T.J. Lang: ‘I was 99 percent sure’ I’d sign with the Seahawks until the Lions counteroffered

Pro Bowl right guard T.J. Lang is now a member of the Detroit Lions, having signed with the team on a three-year, $28.5 million deal, which includes $19 million in guaranteed money. For the 29-year-old, it’s essentially a homecoming, as he’s a Michigan-native who played his college football at Eastern Michigan University.

The Seattle Seahawks were thought to be in prime position to re-sign him, and Lang has since admitted that he was pretty close to moving himself to the Emerald City ... until Detroit came back with a better offer.

“At the time, Seattle had the best offer and I didn’t know Detroit was coming back with a counter offer. So when I left Seattle, I was 99 percent sure I was flying back there to sign a contract. Then Detroit stepped up and things changed pretty quick,” Lang said on a local Detroit radio show.

According to ESPN’s John Clayton, the Seahawks offered Lang $8 million per year, but he did not report any details on how much guaranteed money was put on the table. Meanwhile, Lang’s former team, the Green Bay Packers, didn’t budge on their best offer of three years, $21.5 million with just $6.5 million guaranteed. Lang had given Green Bay and Detroit chances to respond to Seattle’s offer, and he said that “Detroit obviously came up significantly from where they were, and Green Bay just kind of stayed pat.”

What’s done is done, so this is just interesting info to pass along concerning Lang’s near-signing with the Seahawks, Detroit’s late push to ultimately snag him, and the Packers not really making a serious push to retain one of their key offensive linemen.