George Johnson

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the way that the signing of Restricted FA, George Johnson, played out, but ultimately he was re-signed by the Lions for 3 years at $9 million and then traded to Tampa for a 5th round draft pick. The Lions opted not to offer a 2nd round tender for the DE they signed last year, which led to the Buccaneers submitting an offer sheet which could then be matched by the Lions. However, Detroit formally disputed the offer because they interpreted the offer to be worth $7 million instead of $9 million. An independent arbitrator was assigned to make a ruling, but prior to a decision being reached, the Lions matched the offer at $9 million dollars and subsequently traded Johnson along with a 7th Round pick for a 5th Round pick.

Fantasy Impact

All things considered, this worked out moderately well for the Lions because they unloaded their 4th and 5th round selections in the trade for DT, Haloti Ngata, and were also going to lose Johnson for nothing, as opposed to a 2nd round draft pick. The Lions signed Johnson prior to the 2014 season and he played a relatively high level, hence the interest by the Buccaneers to offer such a large contract. The Lions now have 6 picks in the upcoming draft, but they will need to add yet another defensive lineman to their roster before the start of the season.