Ken Rosenthal reports that it would take a seven-year deal for any team to sign Jon Lester (presumably at $25 million per year, which I’m told is a lot of money).

Seven years is a long time and a seven-year contract is a big bet. If he gets that extra year, Mr. Lester – now 31 – will be with his new team through the 2021 season (barring trades).

How long is seven years? Here are seven things that happened seven years ago this month:

1. The Mitchell Report was released.
2. Michael Vick was jailed for dogfighting.
3. The Tea Party movement was founded.
4. New York Senator Hillary Clinton led Illinois Senator Barack Obama by 18 points in the national Gallup poll.
5. For those in Chicago, Alfonso Soriano had just wrapped up his first year with the Cubs.
6. The Patriots wrapped up their perfect regular season at 16-0.
7. The first iPhone was just six months old.

Oh, and Jon Lester was 24 and in his second season with the Red Sox.

That all seems like a long time ago, right? That’s because it was.