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Detroit Lions News & Rumors

Broncos Acquire 23rd Pick From Lions

May 1st, 2015 at 2:43pm CST by Dallas Robinson

FRIDAY, 2:43pm: Ramirez has passed his physical, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com on Twitter, making the trade official.

THURSDAY, 9:31pm: The Broncos have traded up, acquiring the No. 23 pick from the Lions, according to Dianna Marie Russini of NBC 4 (Twitter link). Denver will use the pick to select Missouri pass rusher Shane Ray, tweets Mike Klis of 9 News. Detroit will receive the Broncos’ No. 28 pick, a fifth-rounder (143), a 2016 fifth-rounder, and offensive lineman Manny Ramirez.

Per Adam Schefter of ESPN (Twitter link), the deal was agreed to on Wednesday. Presumably, Denver agreed to the deal in principle with the hope that Ray was still on the board. Of course, Ray, once projected as a top-ten pick, saw his stock tumble following his recent arrest for marijuana possession. He’s also dealing with a foot injury that could force him to miss the beginning of the season.

Ramirez, meanwhile, will slot in at left guard for Detroit, who has yet to re-sign their own free agent guard, Rob Sims. Ramirez played more than 1,000 snaps for the Broncos last season, seeing time at both center and guard.

NFC Draft Notes: 49ers, Thompson, Bucs, Gregory

May 1st, 2015 at 1:12pm CST by Ben Levine

NFL.com’s Marc Sessler explores which teams could move up during Friday’s portion of the draft. The Cowboys and Cardinals top the list, as the writer believes the teams could make a move for a targeted running back. The Lions are a candidate to move up and grab a defensive lineman, while the Saints could target a young quarterback.

Let’s take a look at some more draft notes from the NFC…

  • 49ers GM Trent Baalke told reporters (video link on 49ers’ website) that he didn’t draft defensive end Arik Armstead as insurance against Justin Smith‘s possible retirement. Smith’s status for 2015 and beyond is still up in the air but Baalke has said all along that his uncertain status wouldn’t affect the team’s draft plans.
  • If linebacker Shaq Thompson hadn’t been selected by the Panthers at pick No. 25, Adam Jude of The Seattle Times says (via Twitter) the Cowboys were ready to “pounce” at No. 27.
  • Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times says (via Twitter) the Buccaneers are “thrilled” that offensive tackles Jake Fisher (Oregon) and T.J. Clemmings (Pittsburgh) are still one the board. The writer notes that the team will target one of the lineman with pick No. 34.
  • Meanwhile, ESPN’s Ed Werder says Randy Gregory is on the Buccaneers draft board, which indicates that the embattled linebacker is also being considered at pick No. 34 (Twitter link).

Zach Links contributed to this post.

NFC Notes: Lions, Saints, 49ers, Cowboys

April 30th, 2015 at 11:48pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Earlier tonight, we rounded up a few leftover draft-related items out of the AFC. Now let’s shift our focus to the other conference and pass along some NFC notes….

  • The Lions had three offers to trade back, GM Martin Mayhew tells Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com (Twitter link), but the Broncos’ decision to offer Manny Ramirez helped Detroit make its decision.
  • Had Andrus Peat not been available to the Saints, they would have been fine with choosing Danny Shelton, says head coach Sean Payton (Twitter link via Sean Fazende of FOX 8).
  • The 49ers had several options in the first round, as GM Trent Baalke tells Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter) that there were still five or six prospects the team “coveted” when the No. 15 pick rolled around. As such, it made sense for the Niners to move back a little.
  • The Cowboys would’ve thought hard about trading down had Byron Jones not been available, says Dallas exec Stephen Jones (Twitter link via Todd Archer of ESPN.com). Jones says the club had a couple other players who were in play at the back end of the first round.
  • Texas defensive tackle Malcom Brown was still on the board when the Patriots grabbed him with the last pick of the first round, and it sounds like Brown himself thought he’d be picked sooner — according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald (Twitter link), the newest Pat was told he could have gone as high as No. 7 to the Bears.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Draft Rumors: Gurley, Saints, K. Johnson

April 30th, 2015 at 6:01pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Three teams who pick in the top ten are considering Georgia running back Todd Gurley, according to Todd McShay of ESPN (Twitter link). The Dolphins are also known to be in on Gurley, but it sounds like he may not last that long.

Here are some more rumors as we approach the start of the draft:

  • A “high-level” Saints source tells Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) that the club doesn’t intend to take a quarterback in the first round. Previous reports had indicated that New Orleans would be interested in Baylor QB Bryce Petty at No. 31.
  • Wake Forest cornerback Kevin Johnson is expected to be off the board by the time the Ravens pick at No. 26, sources tell Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, who notes that the Dolphins, at pick No. 13, could consider Johnson.
  • It’s possible that we see a run on offensive tackles near the end of the first round, which could cause the Broncos to consider trading up. However, Denver won’t give up a second-rounder to do so, tweets Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
  • The Lions recently called Texas A&M tackle Cedric Ogbuehi to double-check his contact information, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). That might not mean much on its face, but at least we know Ogbuehi, who is recovering from an ACL injury, is still on Detroit’s board.
  • The Rams have received calls from teams interested in moving up to the tenth pick, tweets Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Draft Notes: Cooper, Lions, Collins

April 28th, 2015 at 9:11pm CST by Zachary Links

In his latest mock draft, Peter King of The MMQB sees the first two picks going as most of us suspect they will: Jameis Winston to the Buccaneers and Marcus Mariota to the Titans. However, he cautions that if a team offers something ludicrous like three first-round picks, the Titans would consider dealing the No. 2 selection. At No. 3, King projects that the Jaguars will take Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper, though it’s tough to forecast what Jacksonville will do. Here’s a look at the latest draft news:

  • The Lions among the teams making lots of calls about possibly moving down in the draft in order to get more picks and they’re not alone in that, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets.
  • Police are seeking to question La’el Collins following the shooting death of a pregnant woman last week, but the former LSU offensive lineman is not considered a suspect, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com writes. Collins is not being looked at as the shooter but he could potentially be the father of the infant who was delivered after the woman’s death. The former LSU standout is projected to be a first-round pick.
  • Iowa defensive tackle Carl Davis has visited the Cowboys, Dolphins, 49ers, Bills, and Bears, according to Josh Katzenstein of The Detroit News (on Twitter).
  • The Saints worked out Central Arkansas wide receiver Dezmin Lewis, according to Kristian Garic of WWL 870am (on Twitter).

NFC North Notes: Lions, Peterson, Vikings

April 26th, 2015 at 8:59pm CST by Zachary Links

Former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, Adrian Peterson‘s teammate for six seasons, has questioned whether the star running back has shown appropriate remorse for his incident last year, Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press writes. “Obviously, AP can still play, but I think he needs to show that he understands he did something wrong and that he wants to work to change that, which I don’t know that he’s really shown yet,” Kluwe said. Peterson is now eligible to return, but there’s no guarantee that it’ll be in a Vikings uniform. Here’s more out of the NFC North..

  • Lions GM Martin Mayhew has great ability to find talent on the defensive line, whether it is through the draft or in free agency, Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press writes. Just don’t ask him what his secret is. “I really can’t answer that,” he said. “That will be for you guys to speculate on. As a defensive back, though, I can tell you I certainly appreciated having the defensive linemen in front of me when I played. So, I’m always on the hunt for those guys. It makes everybody’s job easier when your defensive front is rolling and playing well.”
  • The Vikings are holding out for an epic haul for Adrian Peterson and that’s largely because they believe that they can win in 2015, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. One also has to imagine that Minnesota likes the idea of having a reliable veteran running back to go with rising sophomore Teddy Bridgewater.
  • As long as the Lions don’t draft a guard they expect to play immediately, Mike Rothstein of ESPN.com can see a return to Detroit for Rob Sims.
  • In today’s mailbag, Ben Goessling of ESPN.com writes that the Vikings will probably retain punt returner Marcus Sherels even if they draft a cornerback at No. 11 as many expect them to do.

    • North Notes: Browns, A. Brown, Vikings

    April 26th, 2015 at 8:54am CST by Rory Parks

    The Browns have drafted a quarterback in the first round in two of the past three seasons, and by the time their first pick in this week’s draft rolls around–they hold the N0. 12 overall selection–the top two quarterbacks in the class, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, will be long gone. After those two signal-callers, the general consensus is that the drop-off to the next tier of QBs is pretty steep.

    But Cleveland needs a quarterback. They’ve needed one since they rejoined the league in 1999. Which is why, despite their recent investments at the quarterback position, investments that can only be classified as abject failures at this point, they may consider moving up in the draft to nab Mariota. Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that the Browns’ interest in Mariota is “very real,” but whether they decide to pull the trigger and trade up would of course depend on the price. Trading up to the No. 2 overall pick–which they may have to do, since the Titans, who currently hold that selection, are reportedly more interested in Mariota than many originally believed–would probably be too cost-prohibitive.

    But if Mariota slides past Tennessee, than the Browns may be tempted. In addition to the No. 12 overall pick, they also hold the No. 19 selection, so they have the ammunition to move up. Given the team’s series of missteps at quarterback, such a move would certainly make Browns fans nervous, but until Cleveland gets a franchise player under center, they will continue to stare up at the other three teams in their division. Despite his shortcomings, Mariota has the chance to be that player if the system, and the price, is right.

    Now for some more notes from the league’s north divisions:

    • Antonio Brown, who is coming off a magnificent 2014 campaign, is reportedly trying to renegotiate his current contract with the Steelers. But as Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, Pittsburgh holds all the cards at the moment. Brown would suffer significant fines, signing bonus give-backs, and lost wages if he were to hold out beyond voluntary workouts and OTAs this spring, and the Steelers simply do not renegotiate this early in a player’s contract (Brown still has three years left on his current deal).
    • Matt Vensel of The Star Tribune looks at a few key positions the Vikings might target in the first round of the 2015 draft and makes an argument for each. Ultimately, he concludes that trading back might represent the team’s best option.
    • Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press says all signs point to the Vikings selecting Michigan State corner Trae Waynes in Thursday’s first round.
    • Although Matt Forte‘s decision to skip the opening phase of the Bears‘ offseason program was reported, Martellus Bennett‘s decision to do the same thing went unannounced. Bennett is coming off a career year, but the average annual salary of his current deal ($5.1MM) puts him fairly low on the list of the league’s highest-paid tight ends. As ESPN’s Jeff Dickerson writes, the team has a three-day voluntary minicamp scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday of the coming week, and the Bears will have a better idea of Forte’s and Bennett’s offseason intentions at that time.
    • Kyle Meinke of MLive.com ranks the Lions‘ pre-draft needs, with the guard position topping the list.

    Martin Mayhew on Ihedigbo, Gurley, Draft

    April 25th, 2015 at 11:37am CST by Rob DiRe

    Lions general manager Martin Mayhew has the very difficult task of keeping the team in the playoffs despite losing their stud defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley this offseason.

    Here are a few topics Mayhew weighs in on as he tries to keep the team competitive with the Packers in the NFC North, and among the top teams in the conference. :

    On safety James Ihedigbo skipping spring workouts (via Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press):

    These workouts are voluntary. As we talked last year, there was a guy (Suh) who missed last year, and you guys were irate. And I told you then it was voluntary. It’s voluntary now. I look forward to talking with James. I understand what he’s going through. I’ve been through that myself as a player, when I felt like, at a time in my career, that I was underpaid and I had to deal with that. So I have empathy for him and I understand what he’s going through. I look forward to sitting down and talking with him. I have great respect for him as a player, as a man. I’ve got to know him a little bit away from football, and I understand how he feels and I look forward to sitting down and talking with him, at some point.

    On Georgia running back Todd Gurley (via Kyle Meinke of MLive.com):

    I will sort of equate it to the character situation. Every individual player should be evaluated on his own merits. I wouldn’t just say this guy had an Achilles tear, so he’s off our board. You know, where is he in that process? How long ago was that? How did he perform last year? Who was his surgeon who did his surgery? How is he in the rehab process? Where is he right now? Every single guy is evaluated on his own merits and what his situation is specifically.

    On trade activity during the NFL Draft (via Justin Rogers of MLive.com):

    I made the point at the league meeting that we’ve never started a draft and finished a draft with the same picks, so I think we’ll have a different number of picks at the end of this draft. Frequently, we’ll be very comfortable that there are going to be a number of players where we are on the board and we’ll stay put, or if we feel like our guys are going ahead of us then we’ll move up. If we feel like there are a number of guys that are behind us that we’d like to have or guys within our range — if we have 10 players and we can go back eight spots and get one of those guys. So, it really varies depending on what’s going on with that particular draft.

    On trading picks for veterans in the later rounds of the draft:

    I think early on that was something a lot of times that we did because of the difficulty of signing those guys as free agents. I think we’re in a place now where we have a pretty solid core of quality players and we really want to add some youth to that group. I think the draft is the best way to do that.

    Lions To Exercise Reiff’s 2016 Option

    April 24th, 2015 at 11:13am CST by Luke Adams

    Exactly a month after general manager Martin Mayhew suggested the Lions had yet to make a decision on the fifth-year option for offensive tackle Riley Reiff, the GM said today that the team will pick up that 2016 option, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter).

    As I noted in March when Mayhew initially expressed some uncertainty about Reiff’s option, it would’ve been a huge surprise if the club had declined the option, considering how well the young lineman has played at left tackle over the last couple seasons. In 2014, Reiff’s Pro Football Focus grade (subscription required) placed him in a tie for 23rd out of 84 qualified offensive tackles.

    By exercising Reiff’s fifth-year option, the Lions will extend the 26-year-old’s rookie contract by one year, keeping him locked up through the 2016 season. If the two sides don’t work out a longer-term agreement that adjusts his ’16 cap number, Reiff will be in line for a salary of $8.07MM for that season.

    In addition to confirming that his team would pick up Reiff’s option, Mayhew made a number of other notable comments during his conversation with the media this morning. Here are the highlights, via Birkett, Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com, and Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com:

    • Mayhew indicated that he has “empathy” for safety James Ihedigbo, who wants a new deal and didn’t report for the Lions’ voluntary offseason program. The GM is looking forward to discussing Ihedigbo’s contract situation “whenever I see him,” which suggests the team may want the safety to report before any negotiations take place (Twitter link).
    • The Lions spoke to Rob Sims‘ agent three weeks ago and made a contract offer, but haven’t heard back from the offensive lineman’s camp since then (Twitter link).
    • According to Mayhew, Detroit has yet to discuss a potential contract extension with Haloti Ngata, but there’s interest on both sides in getting something done eventually (Twitter link). While the GM expressed optimism about getting a veteran defensive tackle locked up, he also praised the depth at the position in this year’s draft, noting that the class is “especially” deep on the defensive line (Twitter link).
    • Although the Lions have had some dialogue about a new contract for linebacker DeAndre Levy, nothing is imminent on that front (Twitter link).
    • The Lions cut offensive lineman Rodney Austin after domestic violence allegations, but Mayhew said the team hasn’t closed the door on bringing him back if and when his legal issues are resolved (Twitter link).

    North Notes: Bengals, Peterson, Ravens

    April 23rd, 2015 at 8:55am CST by Luke Adams

    Working out extensions with cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick and guard Kevin Zeitler before May 4 is “a big priority” for the Bengals at the moment, writes Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. Both 2012 first-round draftees are eligible for fifth-year options for 2016, and if Cincinnati is happy enough with both players to want to extend them, I’d imagine the team would exercise those options.

    While it’s possible that the Bengals agree to an extension with one or both players within the next week and a half, it seems more likely that a deal would be struck sometime later in the offseason. A year ago, no club extended a former first-round pick before exercising his fifth-year option, but several teams finalized new deals with those players later.

    Here’s more from around the NFL’s two North divisions:

    • A reader asked Peter King of TheMMQB.com (Twitter link) if he thinks the Vikings will trade Adrian Peterson before or during the draft. King says his gut feeling is that Minnesota won’t do that. With $45MM due to the 30-year-old running back over the next three years, it’ll be hard to find the right deal. On top of that, the Vikes want a high draft pick to part with AD.
    • Elsewhere at TheMMQB.com, former Packers executive Andrew Brandt is less convinced that the Vikings will hang on to Peterson. As Brandt writes, the key person to smooth tension between a player and his team is usually the agent, but in this case, Ben Dogra has clashed with Vikings management and is doing all he can to get his client on a new team. Brandt views the Cowboys as the best fit for the running back.
    • Miami receiver Phillip Dorsett recently paid a visit to the Ravens, sources tell Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. The team also met with Wake Forest cornerback Kevin Johnson and worked him out, Wilson writes in a separate piece for the Sun.
    • Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review provides a breakdown of the Steelers‘ 29 pre-draft visits, while Lindsay Selengowski of DetroitLions.com lists all 30 prospects the Lions brought in for visits.

    Zach Links contributed to this post.

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