How would the Lions’ offensive players fare if Calvin Johnson decides to call it quits?

Calvin Johnson is currently one of the top wide receivers in the NFL. He is also one of the best players in the history of the Detroit Lions’ franchise. Sources have indicated that Johnson reportedly told Lions’ head coach Jim Caldwell that he wants to retire.

Johnson already made his decision to retire prior to the 2015 NFL season. The decision isn’t too shocking because as most of Johnson’s fantasy owners already know, his body is worn down. Johnson has been battling injuries for his entire career.

The Lions are most likely trying to do whatever they can to make Johnson change his mind. The biggest issue for the Lions is that there is most likely no convincing Johnson to change his mind. Johnson is following in the footsteps of former Lions’ star running back Barry Sanders.

When Sanders retired abruptly, he left the Lions’ organization in disarray. The entire Lions’ offense is going to suffer from Johnson’s retirement in the same way it did when Sanders hung up his cleats.

Matthew Stafford had a very shaky first half of the season, but bounced back when former offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi was replaced. Some of that could be credited to the fact that Johnson was hurting all season.

However, that would pertain to most quarterbacks, not just Stafford. Losing a No. 1 wide receiver would hurt any quarterback’s production.

From a fantasy perspective, any player on the Lions is going to be toxic when the 2016 season comes along. If Johnson leaves, all signs are pointing to the Lions making a major overhaul of their organization. There is no reason for the team to keep their core players for a major rebuild.

Johnson retiring would make the Lions’ decision to clean house much easier. They could unload players like Stafford and DeAndre Levy to free up some serious cap space in addition to the cap space they’ll gain from Johnson’s retirement.

The 2016 free agency class is supposed to be one of the best the NFL has seen in a long time. The Lions could make some huge signings and gain some much-needed draft picks if they play their cards right. As far as fantasy value goes, don’t expect any of the Lions to be fantasy relevant this fall.

Anthony Sciarratta is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Anthony follow him on Twitter @ant_sciarratta.