Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Martin Mayhew understands James Ihedigbo's situation

The Detroit Lions had almost perfect attendance at their first week of voluntary workouts.


The one player missing has been safety James Ihedigbo, who his agent said won’t be showing up at voluntary workouts without a new contract. General manager Martin Mayhew stressed Friday these beginning workouts are voluntary and he understands what he is going through.

“I look forward to talking with James,” Mayhew said. “I understand what he’s going through. I’ve been through that myself as a player, when I felt that a time in my career that I was underpaid and I had to deal with that.

“So I have empathy for him. I understand what he’s going through and I look forward to sitting down and talking with him. I have great respect for him as a player, as a man. I’ve gotten to know him a little bit away from football and I understand how he feels.”

Mayhew wouldn’t discuss whether the Lions would redo Ihedigbo’s contract, only saying that he looks forward to talking with him.

Ihedigbo signed a two-year deal with the Lions prior to last season and is set to make $1.625 million in cash with a $1.975 million cap number in 2015 according to ESPN Stats & Information.

The 31-year-old had a good first season with the Lions, making 71 tackles and intercepting a career-high four passes. He also had two sacks. He missed three games at the start of the year due to a nerve injury but played well enough throughout most of the rest of the season to earn status asĀ  a Pro Bowl alternate.

Earlier this week, Lions safety Glover Quin said he hopes Ihedigbo remains a Lion and that his presence helped Quin have a Pro Bowl year in 2014.

“He freed me up to not have to get in the box and play with those 400-pounders all day,” Quin said. “Get to run around on the back end and have some fun and catch a couple passes. So I can’t say that he didn’t bring a lot.

“He’s a key part of our defense and we had a good defense, played a good defense and everybody was a key part to it. He was a big part of that.”

^ Back to Top ^