The Lions recently detailed a number of updates to their front office. Included among them is new titles being given to members of both the player personnel and football operations departments.
Lance Newmark is now the team’s senior director of player personnel, a slightly different job title than the one he had held since 2017 as the head of that department. The veteran executive has spent all but two of his 26 years in the NFL with the Lions, and was a candidate for Detroit’s GM position, which ultimately went to Brad Holmes. He was also linked to the GM job with the Jets prior to that.
Another notable change is the promotion of Mike Disner to chief operating officer. He had previously served as the team’s VP of football and business administration, playing a key role across a number of departments in the organization. He has spent the past three years in Detroit, having been hired as the replacement for Matt Harriss after a stint in Arizona.
Here are a few other notes from around the NFC North:
- The Bears forfeited one of their OTA practices earlier this month, as detailed by Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune (subscription required). The team held May practices which involved live contact, something prohibited by the CBA. Wiederer reports that the Bears were “requested to alter their practice activity,” but because the staff now led by Matt Eberflus didn’t do so, the team became subject to that minor penalty.
- The Packers took not one, but two, former Georgia defenders in the first round of the draft in April. Their top selection, linebacker Quay Walker, has immediately seen practice time alongside starter De’Vondre Campbell. As noted by Rob Demovsky in an ESPN breakdown of first-rounders, Walker’s significant presence in both base and sub packages suggests he could start immediately.
- In that same piece, Demovsky’s colleague Kevin Seifert writes that another former Bulldog, safety Lewis Cine, is pushing for a spot with the Vikings’ first-team defense. The No. 32 pick is in competition with Camryn Bynum for a starting role, but his ascension to that spot “appears inevitable” after his showing this spring.