Lions to Franchise Kicker Jason Hanson

There's a pretty good chance that you're a pretty bad football team when you go 0-16. The Detroit Lions went 0-16 in 2008, and there is no argument that they were a very, very bad football team.

Bad football teams generally don't have a lot of talent. The Lions also fit that mold, thanks to years of mismanagement that starts at the top. Since they don't have a lot of talent, it makes sense to say that they don't have a lot of pending free agents to worry about.

Every team is allowed the use of the "franchise player" designation. Slap the tag on a player, and you're pretty much guaranteed one more year - if not more - of that player's services. You use the tag on a guy you can't afford to lose. Use it on a guy who is among the truly elite players in the NFL.

Or, if you're the Lions, you use it to trap your 38-year-old kicker in Detroit.

But (general manager Martin) Mayhew made it clear kicker Jason Hanson, who has spent his entire 17-year NFL career in Detroit, will remain in a Lions uniform. If the team can't sign him to a contract extension by Feb. 19 -- the deadline to use transition or franchise tags -- Mayhew said the Lions will designate Hanson their franchise player. That would lock him up for at least one more season at a guaranteed $2.48 million salary and give the sides time to work out a multiyear deal before the season.

Maybe the Lions just don't understand that teams are not obligated to use the franchise tag.

Maybe they saw that the Atlanta Falcons are franchising their punter. Just because someone else is doing something doesn't make it a good idea. If that were the case, I'd be worried about Calvin Johnson shooting himself in the leg.