Visions of Super Bowl for Lions

Bill Ford Jr. can see a Super Bowl in the Lions near future -- and not as spectators. With the Lions coming off a 10-6 record in the regular season and their first playoff appearance since 1999, he expects bigger things for the Lions, with quarterback Matthew Stafford, All-Pro receiver Calvin Johnson and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh playing major roles. Ford Jr., vice-chairman of the Lions and son of franchise owner William Clay Ford, expressed his optimism in an interview posted on detroitlions.com, the teams official website. With Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis a little more than a week away, Ford Jr. was asked how close he thinks the Lions are to playing in their first Super Bowl. I think we are absolutely headed in the right direction, he said. The first step is to make the playoffs and we did that. The expectations going forward, I think, will be higher now, and they should be. I think as long as we can keep our quarterback healthy and we can re-sign a couple of our key players and Martin (GM Martin Mayhew) continues to work his magic, in terms of finding pieces that can fit into our puzzle, I really believe this organization can contend for the Super Bowl pretty soon. The Lions were beaten by the Saints, 45-28, in the wild-card playoff round. The interview with Ford on detroitlions.com was posted in three installments. He spoke highly of the coaches, management and scouts -- including president Tom Lewand, Mayhew and head coach Jim Schwartz. The free-agent signing period begins on March 13, and players such as defensive end Cliff Avril and middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch are eligible to become unrestricted free agents. Ford did not speak specifically of any free agents but he did speak about the importance of extending the contract for Johnson, who will be on the last year of his contract in 2012. Stafford played all 16 games for the first time in his three-year career and passed for more than 5,000 yards with 41 touchdowns. Johnson had another dominating season, with 96 receptions and 16 touchdown catches in the regular season. We really want Calvin here long-term, and I think its important for us, important for Matthew, its important for the fans and hes a great guy, Ford said. Hes a great guy on the field, hes a great guy in the locker room and hes a great guy off the field. They dont make many better people than Calvin Johnson. We really want to get this done with him. Ford was emphatic that Stafford has ended the search for a successor to Bobby Layne. I wouldnt trade Matthew for any quarterback in the league, given his age, Ford said. The guy is 23 years old, he just had a 5,000-yard season, the players love him, hes a great young man off the field and yeah, I hope Matthew is the face of this franchise for many years to come. Suh did not make as much impact in 2011 as he did as a rookie, and he was suspended for two games for stomping on Packers offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith on Thanksgiving Day. Ford was supportive of Suh in terms of his future and his value to the franchise. I think hes handled himself well, Ford said. My guess is he was surprised at how big a deal it really was nationally and that probably really took him back. Hes a very bright guy and hes a quick study and I think he has and will continue to learn from that. The coaches think he played well on the field at the end of the year. He obviously didnt have as many impact plays as he did last year but the coaches thought he played really well when he came back, so thats good. Hes going to have a long career ahead of him, and I think he can and will put all of that behind him.