On Monday morning, ESPN’s Adam Schefter made some interesting notes about Detroit Lions wide receiver Kenny Golladay during an appearance on “Get Up”.
First, he noted that the discussions between Lions and Golladay were serious last year, and the young recipient declined a lot of money.
“Remember last year that these two sides argued over a long-term extension, and Kenny Golladay turned down something like $ 18, $ 19 million a year, depending on who you want to believe in,” said Schefter.
Such a payment would have placed Golladay among the NFL elite, with only DeAndre Hopkins ($ 27.3), Julio Jones ($ 22 million), Keenan Allen ($ 20 million), Amari Cooper ($ 20 million) and Michael Thomas ($ 19.25 million) on average more per year today.
With Golladay playing just five games in 2020 and the salary cap decreasing this year, it stands to reason that its price could fall this year. This leads to Schefter’s second interesting point.
According to the ESPN insider, Lions may not end up using the franchise brand on Golladay, which is currently estimated to be a one-year, $ 16.4 million deal by Over The Cap.
“I think there is a chance here with a new regime in Detroit that they it could choose not to tag him in any way, which would allow him to become one of the most coveted free agents out there, ”said Schefter. “We’ll see if Lions decide to use this tag by 4 pm Eastern deadline on Tuesday. I think there’s a chance that they won’t.
Schefter uses very soft language around, but he is also not the type to throw things against the wall to see if it sticks. This also goes against previous reports that suggested it would be a big surprise if Golladay was not scored.
Regardless, we should get an answer soon about what Lions decide to do with Golladay, even if the franchise period is postponed by a few days while the NFL decides on a maximum final salary number for 2021.