The NFL can be a cold numbers first business so nothing about Calvin’s experience should surprise you. The face of the Lions franchise for 9 years, Johnson redefined the wide receiver position.
After retiring following the 2015 season, Johnson was frustrated with his treatment from the Lions. Here’s what he had to say to the Detroit Free Press:
I don’t even like to talk Lions too much just because the way our relationship ended,” Johnson said when asked about his No. 81 being retired. “If they see me around here, we’ll see. But hey, I don’t know.
I just didn’t feel like I was treated the way I should have been treated on the way out. That’s all. I mean, it’s all good. I’m not tripping. I don’t feel any kind of way, just hey, that’s what they did. Hey, it is what is.
He wouldn’t go into specifics but having to repay a portion of his signing bonus on his contract may be some of the reason why. Check out the dollar figures on what Calvin had to repay upon leaving the Motor City.
Because Johnson retired four years after his last contract extension, the Lions could have recouped one-fifth of the $16-million signing bonus he received at the time, or $3.2 million. Bonus prorations are spread over up to five years of a player’s contract, for salary cap purposes.
Johnson paid back 10% of the $3.2 million, which was then credited back to the Lions’ cap. In 1999, the Lions filed a grievance against Barry Sanders, seeking repayment of part of his signing bonus after the Hall of Fame running back retired early from the NFL. An arbitrator ruled that Sanders had to repay more than $5.5 million and forgo another $1.75 million of the $11-million signing bonus he received. Sanders paid back the money in annual installments.
Since the NFL-AFL Merger the Detroit Lions have won 1 playoff game and 3 division crowns with the last coming in 1993. Nickeling and diming the 2 marquee names in your team’s history is just another punch line to tack onto that list.