- The decision to retain head coach Jim Caldwell was made before the Lions clinched a playoff berth, general manager Bob Quinn told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “I really believe in his approach to managing the team, how he practices the team, how he maintains the health of the team,” Quinn said. “So, listen, winning nine games is good. It’s not good enough. But I felt really comfortable with the way things went this year. I’m looking forward to 2017 with Jim.”
[SOURCE LINK]
- It sounds like Lions wide receiver Anquan Boldin is leaning towards a return in 2017. “I haven’t sat down with my family yet, but there’s still a passion that runs in me for football,” he said (via Nate Atkins of MLive.com). Boldin, 36, caught 67 passes for 584 yards and a team-leading eight touchdowns in 2016.
[SOURCE LINK]
Detroit Lions
SUNDAY, 8:45pm: The Chargers will interview Austin on Tuesday, ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson reports (on Twitter).
SUNDAY, 8:05am: Now that the Lions have been eliminated from the playoffs, Austin will interview with the Rams and Chargers, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). It is not yet clear when those interviews will take place.
TUESDAY, 5:36pm: Two teams with head coaching vacancies, the Rams and Chargers, have requested interviews with Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com and Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter links). Austin, who’s preparing for the Lions’ wild-card game against the Seahawks on Saturday, will likely meet with the Rams and Chargers at the end of this week, per Rapoport.
The Rams and Chargers are the first clubs this offseason to court Austin, who has been a popular head coaching candidate over the past couple years. The well-regarded 51-year-old interviewed with four teams last winter, but he ended up staying in Detroit for his third season atop its defense. The results weren’t particularly impressive, though, as the Lions’ defense finished 13th in scoring, 18th in yardage and dead last in DVOA.
Austin is already the 10th known candidate whom the Rams at least hope to interview, as PFR’s head coaching search tracker indicates. The Chargers, who could join the Rams in Los Angeles next season, have Austin, Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub on their target list thus far.
- Lions quarterback Matt Stafford will not need surgery on his injured right middle finger, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes. Stafford was excellent for much of the season, but he completed just 58.6% of his passes for four touchdowns and five interceptions after the injury, and he could get nothing going in a frustrating season-ending loss to Seattle last night.
- Lions WR Anquan Boldin had a nice first season in Detroit, and the 36-year-old wideout, who posted 67 catches for 584 yards and a team-leading eight touchdowns, plans to return for his 15th season in the league in 2017, according to Nate Atkins of MLive.com.
Lions defensive tackle Haloti Ngata may have set several career-lows this past season, but Kyle Meinke of MLive.com writes that the veteran intends to keep playing in 2017.
The 32-year-old was traded to the Lions prior to the 2015 season, and he’s combined for 27 games over the past two years. Ngata finished the 2016 campaign with 22 tackles, 1.5 sack, and three passes defended. The defensive lineman has one year remaining on his contract.
- The Eagles worked out wideout Bryan Burnham, reports ESPN’s Adam Caplan (via Twitter). The 26-year-old has spent the past three seasons playing for the BC Lions of the CFL. He finished the 2016 campaign with 79 receptions for 1,392 yards and six touchdowns.
There’s a lot on the line for the Lions this weekend, but the outcome won’t impact Jim Caldwell‘s immediate job security. The team announced today that Caldwell will return as head coach in 2017, win or lose. 
The Lions were rolling this year before dropping their final three games of the season and ceding the NFC North crown to the rival Packers. That slide made some folks around Allen Park worry about Caldwell’s status, but the Lions have put those concerns to rest before the biggest game of the year, so far.
If the Lions do well in the postseason, it might not be long before the team and Caldwell start discussing a new deal. Right now, he is entering the final year of a four-year deal.
In his three years with the Lions, Caldwell is 27-21. Combined with his Colts record, Caldwell is 53-43 lifetime as a coach. Next up is a playoff showdown with the Seahawks.
- The Lions have signed offensive lineman Garrett Reynolds and promoted cornerback Adairius Barnes from the practice squad, as Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com tweets. They’ll replace offensive tackle Corey Robinson (foot) and cornerback Asa Jackson (ankle), who were put on IR. To fill Barnes’ vacated spot on the practice squad, the team signed O-lineman Jason Weaver, a source told Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter).
Here is Part 2 of our coaching/GM rumors post. Part 1 can be found here.
- Despite his health concerns, Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians expects to return in 2017, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). Schefter tweets that one of Arians’ top assistants, offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin, is expected to interview for a head coaching job with the Rams, Jaguars, and Bills.
- As the 49ers get prepared to search for a new head coach and GM, a ghost from the past has reared its ugly head. According to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports (via Twitter), San Francisco was prepared to hire current Dolphins head coach Adam Gase two years ago. The team informed Gase that he was the choice, but GM Trent Baalke intervened at the last moment and convinced ownership not to hire Gase. The 49ers chose Jim Tomsula instead, and it has been all downhill from there.
- The Packers are not expected to make major coaching changes–although offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett could get head coaching interviews–but GM Ted Thompson could step aside and become a senior scouting adviser, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. One reason, according to Rapoport, is that Director of Football Operations Eliot Wolf is a highly-coveted football mind, and if he’s not promoted soon, Green Bay could lose him.
- The Bengals are not expected to fire Marvin Lewis, who is signed through 2017, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. However, Lewis is not expected to get another one-year extension this offseason, which means that another disappointing campaign in 2017 could spell the end of his tenure as Cincinnati’s head coach.
- Jets head coach Todd Bowles will likely be back for a third season, but offensive coordinator Chan Gailey is expected to be fired, according to Brian Costello of the New York Post.
- The Ravens are expected to part ways with OC Marty Mornhinweg, and assuming they do, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Greg Roman is someone to “keep an eye on.”
- Browns coaches have “deep concerns” with the direction of the team’s personnel department and are expected to push owner Jimmy Haslam for changes in that regard, according to La Canfora. While head coach Hue Jackson is not planning to request the removal of top football man Sashi Brown, the coaching staff would like a proven, old-school talent evaluator involved in player selection to provide something of a checks-and-balance system to Brown’s analytics-based approach.
- La Canfora suggests that, if the Lions miss the playoffs this season, GM Bob Quinn could at least think about a coaching change, and his Patriots ties could lead him to consider Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia, with whom he established strong relationships during his time in New England. While I personally could imagine Quinn’s being interested in McDaniels, I cannot see Patricia as a legitimate head coaching candidate at this point.