"Martin Mayhew, the Lions' general manager, is a pretty shrewd negotiator. Ask any of his peers in the NFL — might want to start in Dallas, as he did a few years ago — and they'll tell you that.

But even Mayhew's smart enough to know now's not the time to play hardball with Calvin Johnson.

"You guys think he's pretty good?" Mayhew joked Thursday, beginning his 40-minute postseason wrap-up with the local media by tossing out a couple rhetorical questions of his own. "Should we keep him around?"

Yeah, they should. And they will, one way or another."