New Lions General Manager Bob Quinn says there are two types of off-field issues that would preclude a player from being signed or drafted in Detroit.
“The two things that are zero tolerance are domestic violence and dangerous weapons. Those are the two things I’m not going to stand for, I don’t believe in. That’s how I feel,” Quinn said, via the Detroit Free Press.
Quinn will have final say in Detroit on both the draft and free agency, and he said a player’s character is “a big point of emphasis” for him.
“That’s definitely something that’s going to be taken into account on every draft pick, every free-agent signing that we take,” Quinn said.
The Lions’ front office was stung by criticism of the franchise in 2012, when the team had seven player arrests. Since then they’ve made a concerted effort to change the way they evaluate players, and Quinn’s emphasis on character is surely echoed behind the scenes by Lions owner Martha Ford.