GM Martin Mayhew and the Detroit Lions claim that Ndamukong Suh's contract re-negotiation, which many believe is needed to create extra salary cap space, "Has absolutely no impact on the Lions' free agent pursuits."
I'm calling bullshit.
Why else would the Lions let backup QB Shaun Hill sign with the St. Louis Rams?
Worse yet, why else would they sign Dan Orlovsky as their primary backup QB to Mathew Stafford?
You might remember Orlovsky from such films as, "The Quarterback Who Didn't Realize That He Ran Out of the Back of the Endzone For a Safety," and "The Year the Detroit Lions Went 0-16."
It never ceases to amaze me how NFL teams fail to realize how important the position of backup QB is until they need one.
If salary cap wasn't a factor, do you really think that Jim Caldwell would endorse a backup QB that was so pathetic that he helped cost him his job as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts only two years removed from a Super Bowl appearance the one year Peyton Manning got injured?
And if that's the case, then Jim Caldwell didn't learn from his biggest mistake during his tenure as coach of the Colts...Not realizing the importance of having a good backup QB.
And make no mistake about it, Shaun Hill is as good of a backup QB as there is in the NFL.
In 34 career games Hill has gone 13 and 13 as a starter with some pretty bad San Francisco and Detroit teams, compiled a quarterback rating of 85.9, and posted a touchdown-to-interception ratio of nearly 2-to-1 (41 touchdowns, 23 interceptions).
That's why it's sickening that it would have only cost the Lions an extra $900,000 on a one year deal to keep Hill over Orlovsky ($1,750,000 for Hill vs. $885,000 for Orlovsky).
Given the way that Hill had performed in Detroit for Mayhew, and the way that Orlovsky performed in Indianapolis under Caldwell, that leads me to believe that salary cap really was an issue for the Lions.
When you have a strong backup QB, you just don't let him walk away for a contract less than 1 million dollars over the veteran minimum.
If true, the Martin Mayhew and the Detroit Lions made a mistake...A VERY big mistake.
Worse yet, the Lions still need a viable backup QB.
