Cliff Avril says a holdout is possible if he gets franchise tag

Cliff Avril has been making the rounds.

He’s telling everyone that asks him he would prefer the Detroit Lions don’t place the franchise tag on him.

Avril wants to be paid top dollar as one of the NFL’s emerging pass-rushing talents. If the franchise tag is placed on him, he has not ruled out a holdout. That’s what he told ESPN’s “NFL Live,” according to the Detroit Free Press.

“It's a possibility,” Avril said. “There's a lot of different possibilities of things that can happen if I do get franchised. I don't want to hold out. I definitely don't want to be that guy, I guess, but that's definitely a possibility if that's the case.”

No one wants to be “that guy” because “that guy” often winds up putting a bulls-eye on his back when he does so.

Have teammates talked to him about a potential holdout?

“Nobody's really said anything to me about it,” Avril said. “It's moreso the fans that are taking it the wrong way, I think, a little bit. I never said I was going to hold out, but it's a possibility.
 

“I think people are just, you know, they think of holdout meaning you're being a distraction or whatnot, but people have to realize it's also a business, and unfortunately, this is part of the business.”

Follow me on Twitter: @BradBiggs

Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune