Why Calvin Johnson is Worth Every Cent of Monster Contract

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Detroit Lions have made receiver Calvin Johnson a long-term resident of The Motor City:

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Filed to ESPN: Lions reached agreement with WR Calvin Johnson on a seven-year, $132 million extension that includes $60 million guaranteed.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 14, 2012"

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In the 2007 NFL draft, the Detroit Lions selected Calvin Johnson as the No. 2 overall pick out of Georgia Tech.

That year, his starting quarterback was Jon Kitna and the Lions began the season 6-2, but unfortunately, fell from grace and finished just 7-9.

Still, Johnson had caught 48 passes for 756 yards and scored four touchdowns—so the potential was there and paved way for a promising career.

Next season, the Lions went 0-16 and Johnson's quarterback "rotation" consisted of Kitna, Dan Orlovsky and Daunte Culpepper. Yeah, nothing to get all amped up about. Nonetheless, "Megatron" recorded 78 receptions for 1,331 yards and hit the zone 12 times.

All things considered, those are some great numbers on such a horrendous team. Then 2009 happened and the Lions got their franchise quarterback in Matthew Stafford out of Georgia.

The bad news, however, was the Stafford only managed to play in 13 games between 2009 and 2010. Thus, forcing Johnson to catch more passes from Culpepper, and then Drew Stanton and Shaun Hill. So in short, Johnson through his first four NFL seasons, had been thrown to by six different quarterbacks.

And yet, Calvin kept on producing some of the best numbers a coach could ask for from any receiver.

Between 2009 and 2010, Johnson caught 144 passes for over 2,100 yards and scored 17 touchdowns. 2011 however, was setup to be his most remarkable season to date.

For Lions' fans and Johnson's sake, it was nice to see a healthy Stafford under center last fall. And, because Johnson finally had Detroit's franchise signal-caller at the helm, he earned a second consecutive Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection.

On the year, Megatron recorded 1,681 yards on 96 receptions and crossed the goal-line 16 times. Johnson also averaged 17.5 yards per catch, which gave his career-highs across the stat board.

Turning 27 years old during the beginning weeks of the 2012 season, Calvin Johnson is on pace to break every Lions receiving record held by the great Herman Moore. When he retired, Moore was the best receiver to ever play in Detroit and he's easily one of the most underrated players of his era.

That said, Johnson is taking all of Moore's single game, season and career accomplishments to another level of uncharted territory.

His ability to beat double-coverage on a consistent basis, burn anyone when singled-up and splitting zones all over the field, Megatron is almost impossible to completely isolate.

Johnson's combination of size, speed, agility, quickness, body control and acceleration (or any other tangible superlative you want to put here) is unmatched for his position, and is a rarity in pro football history.

This is why he's worth every cent of that super-colossal contract.

Regardless of the quarterback tossing him the rock, Johnson has performed at a high rate of consistency—even when defenses were zeroing in on him—Megatron could not be stopped.

John Rozum onTwitter.