Kenny Golladay hasn't played for the Lions since Week 9, and he might not play for them again. Not that he's eyeing an exit, now or anytime soon.
"I want to be here," Golladay said Friday. "I like the city, I like what’s going on."
Golladay, one of the best receivers in the NFL when healthy, is set to be a free agent after this season. He wants an extension. He also wants a lot of money, rightfully so. Talks with former general manager Bob Quinn never seemed to get very far. Now Quinn is gone, leaving Golladay in limbo.
"Nothing can get done right now until the organization figures out what direction they want to go," he said. "And the conversation will come back up when that decision is made."
Quinn made the first decision, drafting Golladay in 2017 as a little-known receiver out of Northern Illinois. He's well-known now. Despite Quinn's departure, Golladay wants to stick with the organization that gave him a chance. And it might be Quinn's departure that allows it to happen.
"They drafted me here, so I just want to show my loyalty. They believed in me," Golladay said. "The contract, if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. I’ll go somewhere else and just ball out and play. But like I said, I’m a loyal person and of course I want to be here."
The biggest question for the next regime concerns Matthew Stafford. After that, it's Golladay. This is a Pro Bowl receiver who led the NFL in touchdowns last season, who racked up 1,000+ yards in both 2018 and 2019. Great receivers are more valuable than ever. Golladay could reasonably demand $17 million per year on the open market.
And he'd probably get it.
Certainly, the Lions won't let Golladay walk for nothing. So either they give him the big-money deal he wants this offseason -- five years, $90 million is a good place to start -- or they hit him with the franchise tag. That would cost about $18 million in 2021.
"I mean, to be honest, I’d rather get a deal done. But if the franchise tag comes, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about," Golladay said. "But for sure, I want to get a long-term deal done."
With Golladay set to miss his seventh straight game Sunday due to a strained hip muscle, there have been murmurs that he's holding out for a new contract. He's not. He's already tried to return twice, only to be shut down again after re-aggravating the injury.
"Clearly it just wasn’t ready yet. It sucks, really, but I gotta be smart with my body," Golladay said.
The other suggestion is that Golladay has resisted a stint on injured-reserve because he doesn't want to lose potential exposure in a contract year. Just the opposite, he said.
"It really wasn’t like, 'I need to stay out there because it’s my contract year.' I mean, everyone knows what I’m capable of doing. I wasn’t worried about like, 'I need to play, man. I gotta show the people.' People know who Kenny Golladay is. I was really trying to make sure my body was right. I don’t want to go out there and put bad stuff on tape."
Here's what the tape has told the Lions this season: they need this man. When Golladay has played all four quarters, Detroit is 3-1 and averaging 28 points per game. When's missed time, 2-7 with 22.3 points per game. You can bet Golladay's reps will bring those numbers to the tables this winter.
Until then, Golladay will continue working toward a return, hoping he hasn't already played his final game in Detroit.