George Johnson contract dispute hinges on de-escalators

The Detroit Lions are disputing the exact terms they'd have to meet if they want to keep defensive end George Johnson, whom the Bucs tendered a three-year, $9 million contract to. The Lions have the right to match that contract and keep Johnson, but they are asking for an arbitrator to clarify what exactly they need to match.

The natural speculation was that the Bucs included some form of poison pill, whereby Johnson would cost the Lions more than he'd cost the Bucs under the same contract, but Pro Football Talk reports that the dispute is over de-escalators and the Lions want to know whether they need to meet the $9 million contract with de-escalators, or a de-escalated $7 million contract.…