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Lions Sign Stafford as First-Round Pick; Rams Buy Sanchez Plane Ticket

by admin on Apr.25, 2009, under NFC News, NFL News

Matthew Stafford

The mystery is over, the Lions will take Matthew Stafford with the number one overall pick.  Stafford agreed Friday night to a six-year $78 million contract with $41.7 million guaranteed money.  To put it into perspective, Matt Ryan signed a six-year, $72 million deal with $34.75 million guaranteed.  Experts debated who they though the Lions, the first 0-16 team in NFL history, would take with the first overal pick to help their team.

The Lions desperately needed a quarterback and taking Stafford was a very smart move.  The Lions will continue to rebuild with another first round pick, 20th overall, as well as a second round pick and two third round picks.  Stafford will formally be taken on Saturday when the Lions are on the clock. 

Stafford is ready to start in the NFL but the Lions will most likely sit him behind veteran quarterback Dante Culpepper as he has done well in team workouts this offseason.  Sitting behind a veteran in this league only helps rookie quarterbacks and will allow Stafford to come in and take over the team and become the face of the franchise in Detroit.

The focus of the Draft now turns to the St. Louis Rams, who have the second overall pick.  Sources have said the Rams have purchased a plane ticket for Mark Sanchez to arrive on Sunday, the day that the Rams will introduce their first round pick.  If this move isn’t a ploy, this could be a sign the Rams will be looking for quarterback help as well.  Many think the Rams desperately need a left tackle, but they have addressed that need with moving right tackle Alex Barron over to the left.  They will probably take an offensive tackle later in the draft but takeing Sanchez get’s them set up for years to come.

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