APLions owner Martha Ford is making major changes on her franchise.
The Lions have fired General Manager Martin Mayhew and President Tom Lewand, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
That news comes as the Lions are mired in a 1-7 season, just a year after making the playoffs. Last week head coach Jim Caldwell fired three of his assistants, and now Caldwell’s bosses have been fired as well.
How secure Caldwell’s job is remains unclear at this time.
With the Lions likely headed for a high first-round draft pick, perhaps the first overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, it’s clear that Ford doesn’t believe Mayhew and Lewand can be trusted to spend that pick properly. So now the Lions will look for someone else to run the franchise.
No matter what happens over the final eight games of the regular season, the Lions will have major changes coming this offseason. Don’t be surprised if big-name, big-contract players like Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson end up elsewhere, as the Lions begin a rebuilding effort.
Well, it’s a start. A long, long, long overdue start.
Although I fear it means Bill Polian, who is fine, coming in with his idiot son, who is not.
Where can I drop my application…? Lol
FINALLY. Now please, please Lions… go with an outside hire!
Caldwell, your seat isn’t just hot you’re sitting in the oven buddy!
As a Lions fan I’d be more excited if I thought they’d hire someone competent to replace them. Last time they fired Millen they hired Mayhew, his 2nd in command to replace him.
It’s about time. Long overdue.
Maybe Martha Ford will come take Ryan Grigson outta here in Indy! Please!!
The curse of Matt Millen, perhaps? I for one didn’t expect this, but OK then.
Wow. She ain’t playin around
Another thought. Odd that this comes a day or two after the trade deadline. I wonder if Lewand and Mayhew refused or couldn’t move one of the big contracts (Stafford, Calvin Johnson) after being told to do so.
I got goosebumps when I heard the news. Thank Jeebus!
Happiest day in Detroit since Henry Ford rolled off the first Model T.
YES !! Thank you Martha Ford… Lions win on their bye week….
i hear Matt Millen is available.
Even as a non-fan of this team, I am not at all surprised 🙂 She is evidently fiesty and would not stand for the dysfunction!! Good for her…
take Caldwell with you clowns.
Bomb for Bosa……
Yet, somehow, Caldwell escapes the gallows. I’m sure Jim Bob Cooter’s uncledad, Skeeter Magoo, will be the new GM.
It’s all because of the negative media.
So many franchises have been through this, hopefully the Lions don’t find anyone as good as Pace, the Bears savior!!!
I would think Josh McDaniels as HC and Nick Caserio as GM in a package deal from the Pats
Thanks for the memories, kittens.
Thanks Marta.You got bigger “balls” than other Fords. Major cleaning was necessary.Caldwell is safe for now as we understand.
Finally! May’be we can get a fresh new start over when the draft hits next year Thank you Martha Ford!
With the 1st pick of the 2016 NFL draft the LoLions select WR…………
Oh, Detroit…. As a longtime Bears fan, let me say I can commiserate with you. I look forward to someday, probably a long, long way off, when our once-proud franchises will battle for division supremacy while the Packers dwell in the cellar. Maybe my kids will live to see it.
I think they should hire a GM who doesn’t have the initials MM.
Too bad they can’t fire Martha Ford
How secure Caldwell’s job is remains unclear at this time.
________
Really? Even an illiterate can read the handwriting on that wall.
I appreciate the many years of effort in service to the team of both people, and I think it is possible for Caldwell to succeed and he deserves a chance to make that case.
For many years now I have been waiting for an opportunity with the team, and I believe I have the passion, the conviction, and the ideas that this franchise needs to succeed. I would greatly appreciate being considered for the General Manager role.
#ReadyForThis…
#MakeDetroitGreatAgain
Whoop, there it is!
I can’t find the posting on Careerbuilder
Can Steve Yzerman do the job as GM???
Why aren’t my Packers this smart? We need a total reset. We are wasting Aaron.
It would be nice to see this franchise get its time in the sun
This had to happen. Bob McNair came out as owner of the Texans to apologize to his fan base for the poor football being played. The Fords don’t do public statements like that; they expect the GM to do that. We are 1-7 and Mayhew made one brief appearance, and at no time spoke about what is happening with the team.
That’s just cowardly. So he’s a coward who is a below average at drafting and had kept his job this long because the guy he replaced (who hired Mayhew) was legitimately terrible, so Mayhew looked good in comparison. But he has failed to put a competitive team on the field after seven or eight years.
Lewand put us in cap hell because he signed CJ and Staffy to huge contracts. I love both those guys but they aren’t worth what the are being paid. Then he hit his arrogant switch and cut off contract talks with Suh, which must have been really offensive to Suh, almost guaranteeing he would go somewhere else. These jokers had ample time, have shown poor results, and are now gone.
I never cheer for a man to lose his job.
As a Lions fan though….
WOOOHOOO!!!! Cheers to a new beginning.
Now…is Martha Ford capable of hiring a solid President and GM? We’ll find out soon…
Didn’t see that coming. Long overdue, but it will be interesting to see who they hire.
Mike Shanahan for GM? He is excellent at asst coaches (Phillips, Gruden, his son)? Not too bad at picking talent.
Now that’s how it’s done, Cleveland and Indy!! The gm’s are not enough, gotta put the foot on the head of the snake and cut off at the neck. I hope Detroit brings some fresh, unpolluted, and hungry but sensical management to their game.
Caldwell won’t survive another GM. No sense in firing him now. Coaches almost never survive GM changes.
good for the Lions.
wish my owner would do the same.
-niners fan
Too bad we can’t fire the Ford family. Scapegoating is all fine and good but the one constant throughout this train wreck that we call the Lions history is these people. In my 38 years I’ve seen lots of coaches and presidents and GMs come and go and yet we always remain terrible. It is the Fords who are to blame. They are amongst the worst owners in professional sports. I beg of them to please sell the team now.
New GM gets to pick his own guy at HC.
In Teddy We Trust says:
Nov 5, 2015 12:29 PM
I think they should hire a GM who doesn’t have the initials MM.
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You mean they should hire Detroit’s own…….. Marshall Mathers?
I wonder if Caldwell has checked to see if he is “standing on plastic” yet?
i’m available!
Sadly, the window of opportunity has closed shut on the Lions…. four years ago, they were a team on the rise.
LOL, good start. Now they need to fire the Fords.
I hear Matt Millen is available.
as a packer fan with a lot of lions fans friends, its about time. the city is working hard at making a comeback and the lions should follow suit. I thought they had it figured out last year. losing suh, fairley and levy hurts but that offense is not getting younger and stafford is cutler 2.0. I enjoy that the pack owns this division, but the NFL needs the bears and lions to at least be competitive. even the queens appear to be headed in the right division. there is no reason that at least 2 playoff teams should come out of this division each year. do the hiring job right this time, because hes probably going to have the top pick.
And here I was thinking that Martha Ford just didn’t care as long as people continued to show up to games.
Count me as a little surprised.
Now she just needs to hire someone from outside the organization.
dapell says:
Another thought. Odd that this comes a day or two after the trade deadline. I wonder if Lewand and Mayhew refused or couldn’t move one of the big contracts (Stafford, Calvin Johnson) after being told to do so.
I’d say it’s more like she didn’t want the people she knew she was going to fire doing any kind of deals whatsoever.
The Lions are not going to suddenly get better while under ownership of the Fords.
the Lions begin a rebuilding effort
Doesn’t something have to have been built in the past in order to be rebuilt?
spartyistheclassofthenationinfootballandbasketball says:
Nov 5, 2015 12:40 PM
Too bad we can’t fire the Ford family. Scapegoating is all fine and good but the one constant throughout this train wreck that we call the Lions history is these people. In my 38 years I’ve seen lots of coaches and presidents and GMs come and go and yet we always remain terrible. It is the Fords who are to blame. They are amongst the worst owners in professional sports. I beg of them to please sell the team now.
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I agree with this 100%.
Hopefully the were fired for keeping Caldwell. Can he be next please?
While they likely deserved their fate, I never understood mid-season managerial-level firings.
Bill Polian would never touch a train wreck like the Lions and their horrible ownership.
Cool. Now, I actively root against the Ravens so John Harbaugh gets fired. So then when Caldwell gets the axe, the Lions can get Harbaugh and together the Harbaughs run the entire state of Michigan.
Remember, remember, the 5th of November.
Last year set up perfectly for Jim Harbaugh to Michigan. Can southeast Michigan strike gold again with brother John?
Sparty’s will be conflicted if John Harbaugh is hired to replace Caldwell.
purpleguy says:
Nov 5, 2015 12:50 PM
While they likely deserved their fate, I never understood mid-season managerial-level firings.
So they can start putting out feelers for potential replacements. If they want to start interviewing someone not currently in a position they can get those interviews out of the way and then soon as a teams season is over they can begin interviewing people currently affiliated with those teams. Let’s them be more thorough in their search.
Only completely dysfunctional teams saddle a new GM with a HC he didn’t pick. The only way I see Caldwell surviving is if they name someone from in-house as interim GM through the end of the season and then dump them both and start fresh.
The Lions are who we thought they where.
i have no idea why the head coach would keep his job, and all others immediately above and below seem to be wiped clean.
if Caldwell keeps job, big mistake. new gm/pres have to have their guys in there, for it to work.
they have no run game to speak of. doesn’t help passing attack. an actual running back to carry the load would make a huge difference. Big pieces on D were allowed to leave, and they clearly haven’t recovered from either.
Stafford has flaws…but he’s better than a lot of the other dogs with fleas. don’t think you’ll magically get a better qb – unless they do a trade w/ SF – qb swap Kap and Stafford, both maybe could use a change of scenery…
Let’s hope Lewand doesn’t go on a bender and gets behind the wheel
Stafford was only decent when Calvin Johnson was Megatron. Now that Megatron has left the building, not so much.
Watch them do something brilliant like bringing in Trent Baalke after the Niners blow him out in January, who then hires Whisenpunt™.
Hey Yorks! Pay attention to what the Lions just did and get rid of your boy Jed and his sidekick Trent so the Niners can start on the road to relavence one again.
“Cool. Now, I actively root against the Ravens so John Harbaugh gets fired. So then when Caldwell gets the axe, the Lions can get Harbaugh and together the Harbaughs run the entire state of Michigan.”
That’s assuming Jim doesn’t take off for Indy to be with his protégé Luck.
Bout time! Mayhew has been awful, overspending and not drafting well enough.
Also, the coach is awful and he hired him.
This move makes sense to me. Let the GM go and give yourself time to find a good replacement. Coach will be gone after the end of the year too, once you have a GM in place who can hire a new one. No sense in firing the Coach now, there isn’t anyone out there who is going to turn Detroit into a playoff team this season.
Oh, so now the Lions are going to get rid of the only 2 guys on the entire team I fear? Ok.
C’Mon Guys STAY THE COURSE! The team is way better than 1-7, the Ebron pick didn’t work but for the first time in my entire life I felt like you guys were headed in the right direction, and although we are not really rivals but have merely shared the division for 55 years I for the first time considered you a competitive rival.
-Dissapointed Vikings fan.
no more mayhem in the front office
I’d talk to Mike Shanahan and see if he still wants to coach. Shanahan is the best coach, but he’s not the best personnel guy. He’d need to be in charge, but he’d need a top notch scout. Not necessarily a big name guy, just a good talent evaluator. Someone like Tom Heckert from the Broncos, or Terry McDonough from the Cardinals, or both. These guys could be putting a good team together and let Shanahan concentrate on coaching. Don’t fall into the trap of hiring someone from the Patriots. These guys all look good as long as Brady is playing QB, but they’ve all failed miserably when given a chance to go out on their own.
I do not understand the vehemence toward Martha Ford, she is 90 and has been at the helm for a year. William Clay Ford was loyal to a fault, often to his detriment. It seems safe to say that doesn’t seem to be a problem with her.
Yet, somehow, Caldwell escapes the gallows. I’m sure Jim Bob Cooter’s uncledad, Skeeter Magoo, will be the new GM.
Greatest. Post. Ever!
If Martha’s not senile yet, she should unload the safe for Bill Cowher.
At least Martha showed everyone that she has a pair!!
Too bad William Clay (RIP) and Bill Jr. were eunuchs.
thank god the stank from Millen and his MiniMe are finally gone. Now get rid of Corky McTurnover and draft Connor Cook before Calvin Johnson becomes the next great WR that never played with a good QB, like Herman Moore before him.
Good news…its about time that teams hold the front office accountable for the players on the field instead of firing position coaches…..time to root out the real problem…next move is to bench Stafford, the kid thinks he doesn’t have to answer to anyone…..after two games stick him back in there to see if he learned anything and then take a QB with the first pick….
Can you believe these dirtbags got a free trip to London last week? Smmmmhhhh!
Go LIONS
Hopefully Virginia McCaskey and Tom Benson are taking notes…
Finally. I’m smoking a “victory” cigar right now. Although I would have dumped Caldwell immediately and made Austin interim head coach to see what he has right now. Mayhew and Lewand would have been released at the end of the season.
kfoyo808 says:
Nov 5, 2015 1:16 PM
i have no idea why the head coach would keep his job, and all others immediately above and below seem to be wiped clean.
if Caldwell keeps job, big mistake. new gm/pres have to have their guys in there, for it to work.
they have no run game to speak of. doesn’t help passing attack. an actual running back to carry the load would make a huge difference. Big pieces on D were allowed to leave, and they clearly haven’t recovered from either.
Stafford has flaws…but he’s better than a lot of the other dogs with fleas. don’t think you’ll magically get a better qb – unless they do a trade w/ SF – qb swap Kap and Stafford, both maybe could use a change of scenery…
_________________
Caldwell is gone at the end of the season. The new GM will put in “his guy”. And pizz on Kaep. He’s not an NFL QB. StafFORD is.
Heads are rolling. Throw them to the Lions.
Matt Millen has to be so happy to see this. I don’t care what anyone says, he’s cracking open a beer and smoking a cigar!
Caldwell must go toooooooooooooo!!!!!
You listening, Colts?
You had to fire this fool now because if he was allowed to fire Caldwell and hire yet another coach, he might have brought in Whisenhunt who he wanted originally. Dumpster fire.
I LOVE MARTHA FORD!!
now shake up the world, hire an all female front office!
don’t laugh…if a woman can run the country from an oval office as President, then she can damn well run a football team from a glass one as President;
i say pick females for the front office jobs;
dapell says:
Nov 5, 2015 12:23 PM
Another thought. Odd that this comes a day or two after the trade deadline. I wonder if Lewand and Mayhew refused or couldn’t move one of the big contracts (Stafford, Calvin Johnson) after being told to do so.
__________________________________
Ding, ding….we have a winner.
I’d be willing to bet a good chunk of my kids’ college fund that she wanted CJ off the roster and they either couldn’t get a taker or wouldn’t budge on an offer, terms, or compensation. If you guys take a deep inside look at what MegaTron is pulling in for coin this year and next year….it’s mind blowing.