Backus to test market

[Cornbread Maxwell]

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... 049/SPORTS

Not good news for Lions fans, but not the end of the world either.

[Santacruzer]

He has been dogged by inconsistent play, etc. but good Centers are hard to come by. I don't think he deserves "top 10" dollars though...

[moochman]

Lions sound like they are going to franchise him.

The Lions will not hesitate to designate free-agent offensive tackle Jeff Backus as their transition or franchise player by the 4 p.m. deadline Thursday, Millen said. Both tags would give the Lions leverage to retain the rights to Backus in free-agency

From the same article where they give a vote of confidence in Joey Harrington.

"We all sat down and watched him," Marinelli said. "He (Martz) sees a lot of really good, positive things from this guy -- a lot of skill, a lot of things that we like. We're just moving right down the road with him. We're going to coach this guy real hard.

"Off of film, you can see all the upside to him -- tremendous upside. As of right now, there's a very good feeling about him.".... "I think we have our starter," Millen said.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... /602210433
Here's a link

[Dan Lambskin]

He has been dogged by inconsistent play, etc. but good Centers are hard to come by. I don't think he deserves "top 10" dollars though...

what's that have to do with an OT like Backus?

i posted something similar in the Lions team thread. he gets beat too much for my liking and isnt worth top money, but what's the alternative if you let him go?

i say let him walk and go OT in the draft. i also saw Fabini was cut by the Jets. he any good?

[Santacruzer]

He has been dogged by inconsistent play, etc. but good Centers are hard to come by. I don't think he deserves "top 10" dollars though...

what's that have to do with an OT like Backus?

i posted something similar in the Lions team thread. he gets beat too much for my liking and isnt worth top money, but what's the alternative if you let him go?

i say let him walk and go OT in the draft. i also saw Fabini was cut by the Jets. he any good?

Wow. I don't know why, but I totally had him and Raiola mixed up . Sorry for the confusion.

[mysticphysh]

Looks like he'll be staying out of those waters.

Tagged.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5355874