Ex-Lion Redding on his exit: 'It was just time for me to move on'
He was overpaid and under-producing, and Cory Redding wanted out, too. So the offseason trade that sent the former defensive end/tackle -- a franchise-tagged player the Lions signed to a seven-year, $49 million deal after an impressive 2006 season -- to Seattle in exchange for Julian Peterson wasn't a huge shock.
That's part of the reason why Redding, who'll face his former team Sunday when the Lions play at Seattle, isn't vowing revenge.
"Nah, I don't have that kind of hate in me," Redding said Wednesday, speaking on a conference call with Detroit media. "I left a lot of good people there. I tried to leave on good terms."
On good terms maybe, but after a bad season, admittedly. Redding went on IR late last season as the Lions stumbled to 0-16. But his final two seasons as one of the highest-paid players in the league at his position were a huge disappointment. After eight sacks in an 11-game stretch in his first season at tackle, had just four the next two seasons.
And by the end, it was clear the Lions wanted out from under that contract, while Redding simply wanted out. (Likewise, Seattle was looking to unload the back-end of Peterson's contract with a way-too-pricey linebacker corps there.)
"I felt like I gave Detroit six years of all that Cory can give, the best that I could, and I felt like it was just time for me to move on," said Redding, 28, who's a backup now behind young starters at end (Lawrence Jackson) and the three-technique (Brandon Mebane). "I felt like I did it the right way. I went throught the proper channels. I didn't try to leave on bad terms. I wanted to do things professionally. I just tried to leave the way a professional is supposed to leave."
So where did all go wrong?
"I don't think there's one thing that you can pinpoint and say, 'This is why everything went sour or south in Detroit,'" Redding said. "It's been a collective of things. But ultimiately, it was tough that we went down that road. And that's something I gotta carry for the rest of my life: 0-16. But all I know is, every single day at practice and in the film room, my teammates and I, we tried to do all that we could to get a win."
