Barry Sanders: Calvin Johnson retiring would be ‘devastating’

Barry Sanders, who walked away from the NFL at 31, believes Calvin Johnson’s retirement would be “devastating” for the Lions.

Sanders was asked about Johnson’s potential retirement at Saturday’s NFL Honors ceremony.

“I feel like I’m stunned a little bit like most people,” Sanders said, via Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News. “I feel like around June, we’ll give him until June or so, and then we should start knocking on his door.

“It would certainly be difficult,” Sanders said. “He’s given a lot to our organization and our team and such a great player and one of those guys you just love having in your organization. Hey, it would be devastating, no question about it.”

Johnson and Sanders have received plenty of comparison since the news broke that the Lions receiver was strongly considering retirement. Both are or were elite players playing for a franchise that saw little success during their tenures, so Sanders certainly understands where Megatron is coming from here. There’s no denying that, even though he’s not quite the dominant force he was even a few years ago, losing Johnson would be a huge blow to Detroit’s offense.