Lions, union debate George Johnson's 'accrued' years

INDIANAPOLIS – When Martin Mayhew said this week the Detroit Lions planned to tender defensive end George Johnson as a restricted free agent, it caught some – including Johnson – by surprise.

Johnson was listed as an unrestricted free agent by the NFL Players Association, but the team and union are at odds over how many accrued seasons he's played.

At issue is whether Johnson, who's been in the NFL since 2010, has earned three or four "accrued" years.

As defined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, an accrued season is any year in which a player is on full-pay status for six or more games, not including time spent on the Exempt Commissioner's list, the Reserve PUP list because of a non-football injury, or a club's practice squad.

Players with an expiring contract and at least four accrued seasons are unrestricted free agents. Players with expiring deals and three accrued years are restricted free agents.

Teams have the right to match any offer and potentially receive draft pick compensation should any restricted free agent leave if he's tendered a contract.

Johnson played 16 games and had six sacks, third most on the team, for the Lions last year. In 2012, he played seven games for the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and in 2011 he played four games for Tampa Bay and spent another seven on injured reserve, giving him at least three accrued years.

In 2013, Johnson spent the first five weeks of the season (including a bye) on the Vikings' active roster before being released on Wednesday, Oct. 9, according to the team's Twitter account.

Players are typically paid for the week if they're on a team's roster on Tuesday, so while Johnson was not with the Vikings for six games, the question is whether he qualifies for a fourth accrued season under "full-pay status."

Johnson's side has not yet filed a grievance as it digs deeper into the issue, and there's a chance it might not need to.

Lions general manager Martin Mayhew met with Johnson's agent, Brian Levy, on Saturday at the NFL combine, and it's possible the two sides could reach agreement on a multi-term deal.

If Johnson, 27, is ruled a restricted free agent, he could interest teams as a young, rotational pass rusher depending on how the Lions tender him.

A first-round tender of approximately $3.347 million (all estimates are per OverTheCap.com) guarantees the team a first-round pick as compensation if it does not match another team's offer sheet. A second-round tender ($2.351 million) provides a second-round pick as compensation, while a right of first refusal tender ($1.539 million) comes with no compensation but the right to match any offer.

Mayhew declined comment Friday when asked what tender the Lions, whose off-season plans are in flux while they try to re-sign Ndamukong Suh, he plans to use on Johnson.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.