Here's the Reason the Lions are Paying Crazy Money to Former Patriots
Let’s review, shall we? These three deals mean that the Lions have given:
*Trey Flowers the second most money in the NFL in 2019 ($28.875 million), behind only Matt Ryan ($44.75 million).
*Danny Amendola his second contract of almost $6 million in a row, after taking two straight pay cuts to stay in New England.
*Justin Coleman the most money of any slot corner/nickel in history.
And it doesn’t take Ernie Adams to see what’s going on here.
I shouldn’t have to preface what I’m about to say with … what I’m about to say. But I’m about to say it anyway. I love Flowers. I love Amendola. Coleman … also played for the Patriots. (I don’t not like him; he simply doesn’t register an emotional reaction.) They worked hard to turn themselves into very rich men off of someone’s money besides mine, and that’s a reason to celebrate. I’m a capitalist as much as the next guy and not about to go all Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on everybody.
But the reason these guys are getting paid such preposterous amounts has nothing to do with market forces, their performances or the fact Martha Ford is so old the map in her office has sea monsters on it. It’s because of the desperation of one man.
And Matt Patricia is not necessarily desperate to win. He’d love to win, obviously. But in the immediate short term, he’s desperate to change the culture in Detroit. The mess he inherited is worse than he could’ve possibly ever imagined. Let’s not forget that early last year he faced a near mutiny for making players run laps in practice as punishment for penalties and mental errors. From the fucking media.
From Freep:
The Detroit Lions’ rookie coach wants things done his way. And his way means running as punishment. Lots and lots of running.
That’s not likely to endear him to his players, many of who whom are experienced professionals who don’t need or care to be treated like junior varsity tryout players. …
Patricia’s tactic smacked of amateurism and even though it was generally downplayed as an innocuous slap on the wrist, I can guarantee you most players don’t care for it.
For one, it’s insulting at this level.
For another, it’s a waste of time.
They have such an ingrained loser mentality in Detroit that the people covering the team are personally insulted by a football coach demanding professional athletes have to be focused, prepare properly and, at times, run slowly in a circle. So insulted that late in the year Patricia felt compelled to give a 900-word explanation as to why he had football players practice in a light dusting of snow. In Michigan.
There’s your explanation. Patricia had to get ownership to sign off on these deals because he couldn’t afford to lose the few former Patriots that were on the market. So the Lions paid a Professionalism Premium. An Accountability Tax. He paid extra for these guys so in the summer when someone jumps offsides or messes up the center/quarterback exchange and he tells the unit to take a lap, Flowers, Amendola and Coleman will just put their heads down and do it. Without the bitching that Lions players have made a tradition unlike any other. And for that reason alone, they’re worth the money.
It just goes to show how hard it is to drag a loser franchise up into semi-respectable mediocrity. In the meantime, credit to the artists at r/Patriots for this little gem.
