Detroit Free Press

The first round of last year’s NFL draft was nearing its end and Brad Holmes was getting antsy. One of the players the Detroit Lions ranked highly on their draft board, Washington defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike, was still available, and Holmes wanted to trade up to get him. He called around to gauge the asking price,

Free Press sports reporter Dave Birkett takes a position-by-position look at the top prospects and biggest Detroit Lions needs in the 2022 NFL draft. This is the seventh in an eight-part series. The Lions had the youngest secondary in the NFL at the start of last season and they likely will have one of the

The Detroit Lions announced Tuesday night they have exercised the fifth-year option on tight end T.J. Hockenson. The team did not disclose how much the option is worth. The first-round pick in the 2019 (eighth overall) has been productive when healthy in his three seasons. His rookie year was cut short due to an ankle

Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner can do things on a football field that a coach simply can’t teach. It’s that quality that earned him his nickname. It’s also the quality that could make him the highest-drafted player in the history of the University of Cincinnati program. The consensus All-American cornerback is projected to be selected as high as

Free Press sports reporter Dave Birkett takes a position-by-position look at the top prospects and biggest Detroit Lions needs in the 2022 NFL draft. This is the sixth in an eight-part series. The Lions have nine linebackers on their roster and enough variety at the position that they could comfortably start the season without any further

Maybe the Jacksonville Jaguars overthink it and pass on Aidan Hutchinson on Thursday in the first round in the NFL draft. And the former Michigan football star is waiting there when the Detroit Lions get on the clock at No. 2. Maybe general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell snatch him up and

It didn’t seem possible a month ago. But the closer we get to NFL draft day, the more likely it appears Michigan football edge rusher David Ojabo will go in the first round Thursday night. Ojabo is no lock, not after tearing his Achilles tendon at his pro day workout in March. But long-time NFL

Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett takes a position-by-position look at the top prospects and biggest Detroit Lions needs in the 2022 NFL draft. This is the fifth in an eight-part series. The Lions are in better shape at the receiver position than they were a season ago, but the unit lacks high-end No. 1

Quarterback will always be king, but the NFL has a new No. 2. ESPN analyst Todd McShay said the NFL underwent a major philosophical shift this offseason in how teams value the wide receiver position, and that change is here to stay as colleges continue to churn out big-time pass catchers. “Anyone can just look

Trent Baalke and Brad Holmes sounded like they were speaking from the same script when they addressed reporters at their respective pre-draft news conferences this week. Owners of the Nos. 1 and 2 picks in Thursday’s NFL draft, Baalke and Holmes both said they had a bunch of similarly graded players atop their boards. “The

The San Francisco 49ers may or may not trade their star receiver, Deebo Samuel. If they do, the Detroit Lions should absolutely do everything they can to get him. Obviously, they need help scoring touchdowns. And Samuel is as good at that as any playmaker in the NFL. There’s also the ripple effect Samuel’s presence

We are less than one week from the start of the 2022 NFL draft Thursday, and one month removed from my mock draft 3.0. Here is my fresh best guess at the first 34 picks, where the Detroit Lions currently have three selections. 1. Jacksonville Jaguars Aidan Hutchinson, edge, Michigan  Rumors persist that Travon Walker

Free Press sports reporter Dave Birkett takes a position-by-position look at the top prospects and biggest Detroit Lions needs in the 2022 NFL draft. This is the fourth in an eight-part series. New Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was effusive in his praise of his offensive line earlier this offseason, saying the group could be

For 15 days they slept cramped on two foam mattresses, side by side in the living room of family friends. Zein Obeid, his mother, Nadia, his older sister, Zeinab, and his father, Ali, when he wasn’t across town working as part of a documentary crew with celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain. The 2006 Israel-Lebanon War had

Once you get a plane up to cruising altitude, pilots say, all you have to do is keep it steady. Of course, that’s harder to do if there’s a lot of turbulence. Which brings us to Matthew Stafford, the ex-Detroit Lions quarterback, the current LA Rams quarterback and the defending Super Bowl winner, who in

Maybe a dozen players in the history of Detroit sports have ever been the face of the franchise or the city for a full decade. One of those people, former Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, was on hand at Comerica Park when another one of those people, Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera, recorded the 3,000th hit

The Detroit Lions should get one of the top two players on their board when the NFL draft kicks off Thursday night. That’s the benefit of picking so high. But as general manager Brad Holmes said in his pre-draft news conference last week, this draft is about more than just “narrowing it down to your

Capt. James Tiberius Kirk used to boldly go where no one has gone before — and never apologized for splitting the infinitive. In “The Scarlet Letter,” Pearl Prynne gave the Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale a literary tongue-lashing for being a deadbeat dad when she told him: “Thou wast not bold! – thou wast not true!” And

Detroit Free Press sports reporter Dave Birkett takes a position-by-position look at the top prospects and biggest Detroit Lions needs in the 2022 NFL draft. This is the third in an eight-part series. The Lions had one of the NFL’s best special teams units last season and return most of their key contributors in 2022.

Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom was joined by former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and his wife, Kelly, outside the SAY Detroit Play Center Friday to break ground on a new addition to the facility. The Kelly and Matthew Stafford & Friends Education Center will represent a major expansion at the center, which was opened in 2015 by