Foote, Lions Work Out A One-Year Deal

It’s a done deal. Larry Foote is going home. And he’ll be playing linebacker for the Detroit Lions. The Associated Press reports that Foote and the Lions agreed to terms on a one-year deal. “I’m excited because it’s a fresh start for me,” Foote told the AP. “It’s a one-year deal to show my talents, and hopefully end up signing a long-term deal after showing the Lions and their new coaching staff what I can do.” On the surface, it’ll be interesting to see whether Foote gets the same $2.885 million in compensation he was due to earn from the Steelers this year. But, at a deeper level, he wasn’t going to get that money. Instead, the Steelers likely would have come to Foote in late August and said, “Larry, we’ve got a problem. You’re due to make almost $3 million this year. But we think it’s time for Lawrence Timmons to get on the field full time. So we can’t justify paying you like a starter.” And so Foote’s choice would have been to take a steep pay cut, or to take a hike. Thus, the real question is whether Foote got more from the Lions now than the Steelers would have given him once they had him over a barrel, with no market for his services and no option other than to slink his shoulders and take what the Steelers would have given him.