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Offensive tackle Russell Okung reportedly didn't want to play in Detroit and the Lions gave him little financial incentive to change his mind.

(AP Photo)

UPDATE - 1:50 p.m. -- A Twitter conversation has added some context to this story. According to NFL.com's Mike Silver, Okung was impressed after his visit with Detroit. He spoke directly to the player. Andrew Brandt, the author of the Sports Illustrated piece, added Okung didn't dislike Detroit, just liked Denver more.

You can offer the best contract, but you can't make a player want to play for your team. Cleveland Browns fans understand this pain, but so do the Detroit Lions.

The Lions made a push to sign offensive tackle Russell Okung, and were labeled front-runners for his services at one point, but Sports Illustrated is reporting Okung wasn't all that interested in suiting up for the Lions.

After taking visits and hearing pitches from the Lions, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers, the agent-less Okung reached out to Denver, looking to land a more preferable situation.

"Not overjoyed with either the marketplace or the prospect of signing with Detroit, Okung started reaching out to other teams. He preferred to stay close to the West Coast, having played his entire career in Seattle, and noted the Broncos' culture of success, Ryan Clady's uncertain status and the team's desire last year to acquire Joe Thomas. Okung negotiated with the Broncos from a position of weakness because he pursued them, and wrangled a deal that became heavily criticized: a two-part contract with a realistic first year followed by option years at a much higher level."

Okung ended up signing a widely panned five-year deal with the Broncos that included no guaranteed money. That's right, no guaranteed money.

The first year he can earn a $1 million workout bonus, gets another $2 million for making the roster out of training camp, plus a $2 million base salary. He also has the opportunity to earn another $3 million in playing-time bonuses, for a grand total of $8 million.

Years 2-5 of the contract are all team options, which average close to $12 million per season, but he's likely to never see. There's a reasonable expectation Okung will be back on the market again next offseason given a $9.5 million roster bonus due in 2017.

Sports Illustrated didn't have the full details of Detroit's offer, but painted a clear picture of the team's first-year salary, which closely resembled Denver's compensation package.

The Lions reportedly offered Okung a $1 million signing bonus, $1 million base salary, $125,000 per game bonus and another $2.5 million in playing time bonuses. The max earnings would have been $6.5 million in Detroit.

With such a small signing bonus, it appears the Lions were also offering little long-term security to Okung. This should make it less surprising he continued to pursue other options, ultimately ending up in a more preferable market.

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