Detroit News

Tom Canavan  |  Associated Press East Rutherford, N.J. — Joe Schoen was at the top of the New York Giants’ list of candidates when they started their search for a new general manager, and the Buffalo Bills assistant GM never left that spot. The Giants hired the 42-year-old Schoen as their general manager Friday. It ended a

With the Detroit Lions’ 2021 season in the books, it’s time to hand out our annual awards. Offensive player of the year: Offensive tackle Penei Sewell This choice isn’t as bold as it might seem. The first-round draft pick overcame some early struggles and was a model of consistent excellence throughout the remainder of the

With enough unanswered items from yesterday’s Detroit Lions mailbag, we thought we’d follow it up with a second batch today. Enjoy. ► Question: It seems like a majority of fans were all aboard the Matt Patricia train even after the first year. Not to be pessimistic, but where might we be wrong concerning the Holmes/Campbell train?

Holding the No. 2 pick in the upcoming draft, don’t expect much variety with the projections regarding who the Detroit Lions will be taking at that spot. The overwhelming consensus opinion is the team will be taking one of the top two edge rushers in the class, either Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson or Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Detroit — One year ago, the Lions finally admitted they had a problem. It wasn’t a Matthew Stafford problem, not exactly. It was a team-building problem, an organizational problem, and Stafford was not the solution, no matter how desperately they and fans tried to believe it. So they set him free, traded him where he

With a bit of a lull between the end of the regular season and next month’s Senior Bowl, it seemed a good time to catch up on our Detroit Lions mail. ► Question: When will comp picks be announced this year? Do you feel the projected third-, fifth- and sixth-round picks will be accurate? — @TimVanHouten1 ► Answer: A specific date

By Jerry Green |  Special to The Detroit News Detroit — The mob poured from the grandstands at Briggs Stadium that frosty Sunday. They dashed onto the football field and grabbed the champion in the Honolulu blue No. 56 jersey. They hoisted Joe Schmidt aboard their shoulders. They bounced him around like “cork on the ocean” as

AP Sports Writer Matthew Stafford passed for 202 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score in his first playoff victory, and the Los Angeles Rams roared out of the wild-card round with a 34-11 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night. Odell Beckham Jr. and Cooper Kupp made touchdown catches for the

Allen Park — A year after fielding the worst defense in franchise history, and seeing those struggles continue through the first half of the 2021 season, the Detroit Lions were in desperate need for an identity on that side of the ball. Whether intentionally borrowed or absorbed through subconscious osmosis, they found one in Pittsburgh coming

Allen Park — Beyond the losses — which were probably to be expected in the first of of a multi-year rebuild — one of the greatest disappointments of the Detroit Lions’ 2021 season was the lost year of development for cornerback Jeff Okudah. It’s often said a professional football player experiences their biggest growth between their first and

It’s been three decades since the Detroit Lions have tasted a playoff victory, but until Sunday night, it wasn’t the NFL’s longest drought. With a 26-19 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders in the Wild Card round, the Cincinnati Bengals ended their 31-year streak without a postseason win, pushing the Lions to the back of

Allen Park — Despite the rarity of immediate success for a 20-year-old offensive tackle, no one within the Detroit Lions organization seems particularly surprised by Penei Sewell’s rookie season. “I thought he was going to be pretty good and he’s pretty good,” center Frank Ragnow said. “And he’s got a long way to go too, man, which

Allen Park — It’s easy to point to the Detroit Lions offensive line as the roster’s strength, but when asked about his team’s positions of need for the upcoming offseason, general manager Brad Holmes casually slipped in he carries a similar view about the defensive trench. “I would agree, yes, offensive line,” Holmes said. “You could say

Allen Park — One of the biggest questions the Detroit Lions will face this offseason is what the team will do at offensive coordinator. Particularly of interest is whether the next person in that role will handle play-calling or if it will remain in the hands of head coach Dan Campbell. General manager Brad Holmes doesn’t have

Allen Park — One of the biggest questions the Detroit Lions will face this offseason is what the team will do at offensive coordinator. Particularly of interest is whether the next person in that role will handle play-calling or if it will remain in the hands of head coach Dan Campbell. General manager Brad Holmes doesn’t have

Go through the gallery to see The Detroit News’ final grades for the Detroit Lions’ 2021 season, compiled by Justin Rogers. Click here if you have trouble viewing the gallery. Allen Park — If we’re being honest, the Detroit Lions’ 2021 season went about how most of us expected. Seriously, go back and check our season predictions; three of our four writers

Allen Park — We were told Brad Holmes had a keen eye for talent. But now we’ve seen for ourselves in Holmes’ first year as the Lions’ general manager. And if you’re looking for reasons to be optimistic about this team’s future — some years you really have to squint, I know — that’s probably the

Allen Park — The Detroit Lions might have only won three games during the 2021 season, but they managed to net player of the week honors from each of those victories. First it was quarterback Jared Goff, after he led a game-winning drive, throwing his third touchdown of the day as time expired to beat the

Allen Park — In the NFL, most teams’ rookie classes have hits and misses. For the Detroit Lions, first-year general manager Brad Holmes had more of the former than latter, including a pair of home runs into the upper deck. First-round selection Penei Sewell lived up to and exceeded the hype that led to him being the

Allen Park — The Detroit Lions have more than a dozen players set to be unrestricted free agents this offseason. While it’s unlikely they’ll want to or be able to retain them all, general manager Brad Holmes sounds like a guy who hopes to have safety Tracy Walker and outside linebacker Charles Harris back in the fold