The game is afoot

Well Martin Mayhew, Tom Lewand, and the fine folks at Octagon Football must have gotten my letters, because yesterday the Lions brass flew Andy Ross and Michael Sullivan in to begin talking contract.  Ross and Sullivan were invited onto the sidelines to watch practice, which is interesting.  As Dave Birkett points out in a great wrapup of yesterday's minicamp workouts, what this means is that the Lions want to be seen negotiating with Aaron Curry's representation.  The fact that they are also negotiating with Matt Stafford and Jason Smith's representation, with far less fanfare (Mayhew even declined comment when asked if he was also talking to Tom Condon, Stafford's agent), underscores to me that they know the fans want Curry, and they want them to think there's a chance.  Either that, or they're trying to convince other teams that Curry's candidacy is heating up; pulling the switcheroo I've been postulating for weeks.  Two easy steps to creating a trade market for the 1.1: convince everyone that Stafford is a mortal lock--then shortly before the draft, leak that you've nearly got Curry signed.  A team in the 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 area that was already getting Aaron Curry jerseys printed up will be scrambling, and the Lions can finally slide back a few spots, get a very good player, and save themselves like $8M guaranteed over the life of the deal.

I hate it.  Sign Curry! C'mon Ross and/or Sullivan!  Negotiate like you've never negotiated!  Come in low, make your client the first #1 overall linebacker in 20 years, and reap the marketing benefits like crazy!