Matthew Stafford, Lions Have 'Substantial Gap' in New Contract Talks

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who is entering the final year of his contract, reportedly is "actively talking" with the team about a contract extension, but a "substantial gap" remains between the sides, according to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network on Tuesday.            

Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press believes the Lions had better be prepared to pay Stafford major money in these negotiations:

Stafford, 29, was excellent for the Lions last season, throwing for 4,327 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing 65.3 percent of his passes. He led the team to the playoffs for the second time in three years and for the third time in his career. 

He's also proved to be durable after an injury-plagued start to his career and hasn't missed a game in six seasons.

Entering the final year of a three-year, $53 million contract extension, Stafford is in line to be one of the game's highest-paid quarterbacks. If he and the Lions don't agree on an extension, however, the team assuredly would use the franchise tag to retain him this offseason.

But Stafford isn't letting any contract impasses affect him, per John Niyo of the Detroit News:

"There's no difference to me, as far as my preparation. No matter what happens, I've got a year left on my contract here. I'm gonna be here this year playing football for this team. So it’s on my shoulders to be as good as I possibly can to help our team win...

"If I spend time thinking about all that [contract] stuff, I'm doing a disservice to the guys in the locker room. I don't want to hear about it; they don't want to hear about. We just want to go play football."

It's hard to imagine the two sides won't agree on a lucrative contract extension for Stafford. With the exception of the Kirk Cousins situation in Washington, teams generally lock up their franchise quarterbacks for the long haul.