21 Quotes by Tom Lewand

He exceeded our expectations at Ford Field in the first year of this thing. It's funny, he's almost his worst enemy now because the expectations are so high, but he keeps meeting them.

He's a talented football player who had a good workout for us last fall and again yesterday. It's an opportunity for him to come in and compete. We'll see where it goes. It provides depth and competition to the position.

He wanted to build a stadium where he could stand on the 50-yard line and know he's in Detroit.

I think we've had some success in recent years. Free agency, again, is not a panacea. It's not how you build your football team. It's part of the equation, and this year, even with the uncertainty, is no different.

We'll continue to work with him, and it's our goal to try and reach a long-time contract with him.

We'll be ready to go on free agency Monday morning.

The one thing you always know about anything Robert does is that his heart and soul will totally be in it,

We put the tag on Jeff Backus with the intention of keeping him here not only in 2006, but beyond.

You have to have two plans. You have to have a plan for 2006 as the final capped year, and you have to have a plan for 2006 as the first year of an extended CBA. It's a different year. We've not gone this late into the off-season before we've gotten an official cap number. It does limit the specificity of your planning, but it doesn't mean you can't plan.