Detroit Lions Putting All Their Eggs in a Fragile, Mechanically Flawed Basket

Every NFL player likes to feel like he is wanted. They don't want to be just another piece of the machine to the owners and fans. They want to feel like they matter (even the ones that claim they could care less); it's human nature.

The one way that owners know how to say it is through the contract. On Tuesday the Detroit Lions certainly showed quarterback Mathew Stafford a whole lot of love. The question now is whether he has the health and the skill set to prove he's worth it.

Stafford's paycheck for this coming season is going to be outrageous after signing his new contract extension.  His base salary this season is going to be $4 million, but after signing his three year. $53 million extension that includes a signing bonus of $27.5 million he will get paid $31.5 million.

Yeah, eat your heart out NBA players!

Stafford has two years left on his current contract, but the Lions wanted to go ahead and make sure their franchise QB was not sweating his contract, but concentrating on winning games. They must be pretty confident that he is going to lead them to the promise land after guaranteeing him $41.5 million now.

But is he worth it?

On the face of things the answer is an obvious and resounding yes. Over the last two seasons he has thrown more passes than any other quarterback, amassed over 10,000 passing yards, and 61 touchdowns.

Pretty good stuff, right? But can he keep it up is the question.

While he has not missed a game the last two seasons his first two in the league saw him play in just 13. You can say that the last two seasons are proof that he is over the injury issues, but at the speed the game is now played and the frequency the Lions throw the ball he is going to be open to a lot of potentially damaging hits.

Than there's his mechanics. Ask him and he'll say that there is no issue with his mechanics, but watch him play and it's easy to see there is. He often throws sidearm, doesn't set his feet well, and often looks pretty skittish in the pocket.

ESPN's Ron Jaworski had this to say about Stafford's mechanics:

“Too many forced throws. Overall, he just threw too many passes with poor balance and bad footwork, with a tendency to fall away from the throws. He needs more consistent mechanics to play at a higher level week in and week out.”

Tack on the fact that the team was just 4-12 last year and has only made the playoffs once under Stafford, and you have to wonder why they opted to show him so much love now before he proved he deserved it.