“We’re going to be more focused on bringing our guys back more so than going out and trying to find five or six guys from somewhere else,” he said.
Pro Bowl receiver 
"Do you guys think he's pretty good?" Mayhew joked about Johnson with beat writers Thursday. "Should we keep him around?"
He answered his own question before anyone else could.
"I am not going to suggest a pay cut for him," he said
Johnson is owed $14 million in base salary this upcoming season in the final year of his rookie contract. His cap number is closer to $22 million, though.
“He’s got a big number,” Mayhew said. “But it is workable.”
The Lions could actually accomplish all of the things on their offseason wish list without re-signing Johnson. However, getting a new deal done and lowering that cap number will make things easier.
"I think we have an opportunity to work on that this offseason," Mayhew said of the Johnson deal. "I don’t think it’s something that absolutely has to be done, but we have an opportunity to work on that and we plan to pursue that."
Johnson declined to comment on the subject when he briefly spoke to the media on Monday.
The Lions have 18 of 22 starters under contract next season but the four positions that will be the primary focus of Mayhew to re-sign this offseason are all vital components of the team.
"Critical positions on our football team -- pass rusher, mike (middle) linebacker, cornerback and left tackle,” he said.
He addressed the pass rusher (
On middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch: “I thought he did a great job for us this year,” Mayhew said. “Mike linebacker is (a) critical position on our team, you know, he’s the quarterback of our defense. (Tulloch) understands our defense, coaches feel very comfortable with him, he’s a good leader, he’s good in the locker room, so we’d really like to have him back.”
Tulloch led the team with 111 tackles this season.
On defensive end Cliff Avril: ”We are excited about having Cliff on our team,” Mayhew said. “We are going to approach Cliff about a long-term deal and try to get something done and see what happens.”
Avril led the team with 11 sacks and was their most consistent pass rusher this year. Avril is looking to cash in on a large contract and the Lions will have to decide if they want to pay him, franchise him or try to replace his 11 sacks, six forced fumbles and two touchdowns worth of production with
On starting left tackle Jeff Backus: “You know, I thought with the pectoral injury early, he started kind of slow,” Mayhew said. “We helped him some early and didn’t have a great game against the Vikings. But once he sort of got his bearings and settled in, he had a pretty solid season for us from about that fifth, sixth game through the end of the season he played well. He played very well. He wants to play football, he wants to play for us, I want him to play for us, so we’ll try to get something worked out with him.”
Backus had surgery on a torn right bicep Monday and is expected to be on the mend for a few months. Mayhew said he wasn’t concerned about the injury moving forward, though.
The other free agent starter on defense Mayhew will have to decide on either re-signing or replacing is corner
“This situation turned out to be everything I thought it would be,” Wright said. “I went through a free agency period where I spoke with a number of teams and I really chose (the Lions) because the situation looked extremely promising and everything that I wanted out of the situation came to fruition. It would be great to be back here. I have tremendous optimism for the season next year, but the business is how it is, so you never know.”
Despite the number of tough decisions facing him this offseason, Mayhew was quick to point out that those problems are good ones to have.
“The fact that we are talking about good players that expect to be paid well is a good thing,” he said.
The Lions can sign their own players at any time, but don't expect anything to happen right away.
"With any of those guys that we’re talking to, we express to them that we have an interest in signing them back," Mayhew said. "Typically they want to see what their market is before they do something.
"They’re not that motivated to do anything right now and, like I said, we’re not emotionally making decisions. We’re not going to jump out there and try to sign a guy right now either. So, now is not really the time when a lot of that takes place."
Free agency begins March 13.
