Tom Lewand Quotations

I have to give the Ford family credit. They wanted it done first-class and told me to do things the right way. We put a lot of care and thought into everything.

We put the tag on Jeff Backus with the intention of keeping him here not only in 2006, but beyond.

He exceeded our expectations at Ford Field in the first year of this thing. It's funny, he's almost his worst enemy now because the expectations are so high, but he keeps meeting them.

The rules are going to have a bigger impact than the dollar amount.

There's no disputing his success offensively. He should be an exciting guy to work with.

It's an opportunity for him to come in and compete and to learn the system from day one along with Joey and Dan. We'll see where it goes.

It really is a family day -- a chance for the kids to be able to come out. The kinds of experiences that people get, they'll remember for the rest of their lives. That's not always possible on a regular season game day when guys are preparing.

He's still learning the position. From that standpoint, he's almost a young player at that position. As he continues to learn the offense and the position, he'll only get better.

You have to have two plans. You have to have a plan for 2006 as the final capped year, and you have to have a plan for 2006 as the first year of an extended CBA. It's a different year. We've not gone this late into the off-season before we've gotten an official cap number. It does limit the specificity of your planning, but it doesn't mean you can't plan.

Shaun King's a talented football player who's taken a team to the NFC championship game. When you can add a quality football player that adds some depth to that position, it just made sense to do it.