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Could the Lions draft Christian McCaffrey?

The NFL combine is less than two weeks away and days after that, the free-agency period will begin with the start of the new league year. So it’s time for the Detroit Lions – and every other team in the NFL – to begin to take stock of what they have and where they can upgrade.

With that in mind, we’ll do that as well with every position on the Lions’ roster leading into next week’s combine. And just a reminder that things can change incredibly quickly over the next few weeks as Detroit decides which players to re-sign and let go.

Today we’ll look at a position of some question with Detroit, running back.

The position group under contract: Ameer Abdullah (starter), Theo Riddick, Zach Zenner, Dwayne Washington, Mike James, Michael Burton (fullback)

NFL DraftRound 1: April 27, 8 p.m. ET
Rds. 2-3: April 28, 7 p.m. ET
Rds. 4-7: April 29, noon ET
Where: Philadelphia

NFL draft home page »

• 2017 NFL draft order »
• Mel Kiper Jr.: Mock 2.0 »
• Todd McShay’s Top 32
• McShay: Top prospects by position
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• Mel Kiper Jr.’s Big Board »
• Mel Kiper Jr.: Top 10 by position »
• Pro day schedule for prospects »
• Underclassmen who have declared »
• NFL draft player rankings »

Free agents: Joique Bell

What are the chances the Lions bring back their own free agents here: Next to none. Bell barely played when he was with the Lions last year and appeared to have nothing left as a productive running back.

What do the Lions need between free agency and the draft: The Lions will likely add a runner somewhere between free agency and the draft. Abdullah is coming off a season-ending injury. Riddick dealt with injuries all of last season. Zenner showed some promise. Washington is very raw. James is an unknown. Plus, the Lions had one of the worst rushing offenses in the NFL again – a trend throughout Jim Caldwell’s head coaching career. But the Lions are going to be looking to upgrade their run game, so expect at least one back to be new to the backfield.

Three free agents to look at:

Rex Burkhead, Cincinnati: He had a breakthrough of sorts last year with 74 carries for 344 yards and two touchdowns. His 4.6 yards per carry last season were pretty strong. His numbers are a little deceiving, too, because for most of his career he’s been behind a combination of Gio Bernard and Jeremy Hill. He would see a similar issue in Detroit with Abdullah, Riddick and Zenner, but he could be worth exploring.

Benny Cunningham, Los Angeles Rams: He won’t have numbers that will wow, well, anyone, but he is 26 years old and has been effective when he’s been given the ball. He has 171 career attempts for 748 yards (4.4 yards per carry) and four touchdowns. He also has some return ability, averaging 27.1 yards per return in his career. He’s a bit of a bigger back who could be a rotational player.

LeGarrette Blount, New England: If Bob Quinn wants to bring in a true veteran, he could look to the former Patriots running back who had a career-best 1,161 yards last season. The issue with Blount is he doesn’t catch passes out of the backfield much and that’s a skill important for Detroit running backs. But he might be the best semi-affordable option for the Lions if you think Latavius Murray would get top dollar on the market (assuming Le’Veon Bell doesn’t reach free agency).

Three combine rookies who could get considered:

Christian McCaffrey, Stanford: If the Lions choose to go with an early-round running back, McCaffrey could be intriguing at No. 21 (or in a trade-back scenario). He is a dynamic runner with back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons (including 21 career rushing touchdowns) and two seasons of at least 35 receptions. He’s a smart runner who should be available as Dalvin Cook and Leonard Fournette are likely to be gone before Detroit selects.

Samaje Perine, Oklahoma: If the Lions are looking to add a big back in the middle rounds who has the capability of turning into more, Perine could be a strong option. At 5-foot-10, 235 pounds, he is tough to bring down and has had great production with three straight 1,000-yard seasons and 4,122 career rushing yards and 49 touchdowns. He hasn’t caught a bunch of passes out of the backfield, which could be an issue, but if Detroit is looking for a different type of back, he could fit that mold.

James Conner, Pittsburgh: Most people know about Conner’s battle with cancer, but he returned to become one of the better backs in college football. He showed an added dimension to his game last season by catching 21 passes for 302 yards and four touchdowns. But he had two 1,000-yard rushing seasons in his career and has averaged over 5 yards per carry every year of his career. His size – 6-foot-2, 235 pounds – makes him intriguing as a short-distance runner, too.

Soccer

Hernandez in race to reach Germany for Champions League tie

Agence France-Presse

30m ago

SHAMIL ZHUMATOV / Reuters

Madrid – Centre-back Lucas Hernandez was dashing to Germany on Tuesday in a desperate bid to make kick-off for Atletico Madrid’s Champions League clash at Bayer Leverkusen after being released by a court.

Hernandez and his girlfriend pleaded not guilty to domestic violence in a Madrid court earlier on Tuesday before the case was adjourned.

That allowed Frenchman Hernandez, 21, to board a plane in Madrid bound for Germany in a bid to make the 19:45 GMT kick-off at the BayArena for the last 16 first leg tie.

Atletico desperately needs Hernandez, who has been deputising in the centre of defence for the injured Diego Godin.

The Frenchman was arrested earlier this month after his girlfriend was taken to hospital following an altercation between the pair.

Neither party made a complaint against the other but both were charged with domestic violence and Spain’s public prosecutor asked for a seven-month prison sentence for Hernandez – although even then he would unlikely spend any time behind bars as sentences under two years are normally suspended for first-time offenders in Spain.

NFL

NFL Rumor Central: Romo expects to be released, not traded

Quarterback Tony Romo expects to be released by the Dallas Cowboys — and not traded — this offseason, sources close to the popular veteran told ESPN’s Ed Werder.

Rumor Central“Obviously the Cowboys would like to recoup something for their enormous investment in Romo and his obvious value,” Werder said Thursday on SportsCenter. “But, age 37, recent injury history — he’s only played in five of the last 32 games — I think it makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to trade him, especially considering his contract.”

Romo’s contract makes him difficult to trade. He signed a six-year, $119.5 million deal in 2013 that at the time was just the 15th deal worth $100 million or more in NFL history; he is scheduled to make $14 million in 2017, and $40 million more over 2018 and 2019. Designating Romo as a post-June 1 release would cost the Cowboys only $10.7 million of their 2017 cap by allowing them to roll $8.9 million of Romo’s dead money over into 2018. If the Cowboys release him before June 1, though, it would cost them $19.6 million in cap space in 2017 alone.

A number of NFL teams, such as the Chicago Bears, who are expected to move on from Jay Cutler after eight seasons, or the Buffalo Bills, who don’t appear committed to picking up Tyrod Taylor’s $27 million option due next month, could be in the market for a new quarterback. Given his age — he turns 37 in April — it is believed that Romo would prefer to join a playoff contender.

“The teams I think he has an eye on are a team like the Chiefs, a team like the Broncos and maybe more so than the others, the Houston Texans,” Werder said.

Injuries have plagued Romo in recent seasons, including this past season, when he suffered a back injury in the preseason and never won the starting job back from rookie Dak Prescott as the Cowboys went 13-3 and earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

If released, Romo would be leaving Dallas as the Cowboys’ all-time leader in passing yards (34,183), better than Hall of Famers Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach. Unlike those two, who combined to win all five of Dallas’ Super Bowl titles, Romo would be leaving Dallas with just two playoff wins to his name.

— Brendan C. Hall

NFL

Craving for competition drove John Lynch from booth to GM role

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — About an hour after new San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch had taken part in his introductory press conference, he walked into the media room at Levi’s Stadium for another round of questions with local writers.

Lynch had honestly and earnestly answered every question thrown his way, be it about his lack of experience running a personnel department, the division of power between him and coach Kyle Shanahan, or just about anything else. He’d done so with a smile and plenty of enthusiasm. As the conversation continued, Lynch was asked something a bit more difficult: Why?

As in why would a former player with a wife, four children and a good job as a color analyst for NFL games on Fox choose to leave for the high-pressure, results-driven business of being a general manager?

Lynch’s answer began with a quip but ended with emotion as he choked back tears talking about being away from his family.

John Lynch has had to make sacrifices as he transitions to his new, high-profile job as the 49ers GM. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

“My wife keeps saying, ‘Are you sure?'” Lynch said. “I said, ‘Well, this has already started. We’re in.’ I’ve never been apart from my family, so it’s been gut-wrenching already but — sorry — that’s been tough.”

For now, Lynch is living in a local hotel as he adjusts to his new job while his wife Linda and four children — Jake, 17, Lindsay, 16, Lilly, 14, and Leah, 9 — are finishing the school year in San Diego. Jake might stay there with Lynch’s parents for his senior year, but the rest of the family will eventually relocate to the Bay Area. On weekends, Lynch travels to Southern California or his family comes to visit him.

It’s just one of the many sacrifices Lynch has had to make in transitioning to his new, high-profile job after eight years in the broadcast booth. It was also one of the primary things Lynch and his family considered before the Niners surprised the football world by hiring him out of nowhere to help rebuild this once-proud franchise.

“As soon as we started having conversations, I knew that this was going to be a possibility, so the biggest thing was, ‘Can I get my family on board?’” Lynch said. “Ultimately, we got there. At first my wife said, ‘You go make this decision,’ and I said, ‘No, no, no, we have to make this decision.’ I got them to the point where they were as excited as I was and pulled the trigger.”

Lynch said that Denver Broncos general manager/executive vice president John Elway has been an advisor throughout this process (among others). When Elway retired from football, he threw himself into a variety of business ventures but eventually found his way back to football, first in the Arena League and now in his current role with the Broncos.

Like Elway and so many other former athletes, Lynch’s post-football career simply didn’t satisfy the competitive fire within him. It’s a fire that Shanahan recognized still burns in Lynch when the subject of working together in San Francisco was first broached.

“What excited me so much about John is [that] John had a pretty good deal before coming here,” Shanahan said. “I remember when he told me why he wanted to be a general manager, and he really missed someone winning and losing at the end of a game. He enjoyed doing the announcing and being a part of the NFL, but the fight to go through something with a group of guys and what we go through together, and it is not easy and it’s a grind for everybody, but it is worth it. That’s really what people who played, people who coached, those are the reasons when people get out of it, they miss it so much.”

It’s that same competitive persona that made taking this particular job appealing to Lynch. Although he had never been all-in on moving into personnel, he said he has had conversations with teams in the past about making that move. In the run-up to recent drafts, Elway has invited Lynch to help the scouting department.

“He used to always give me a hard time and kind of bust my chops: ‘What are you really doing when you broadcast a game?'” Lynch said, laughing. “‘What kind of impact are you having?’ He was messing with me.”

But Elway also gave Lynch opportunities to see what he was missing, first by asking him to watch tape of safety prospects and write reports. Lynch was a Pro Bowl safety with the Buccaneers and Broncos.

Then, Elway asked Lynch to sit in on some draft meetings. Then, Lynch attended the scouting combine in Indianapolis with the Broncos, participating in every aspect of the process except the interviews.

Seeing it up close gave Lynch a new perspective. Combining that with the need to have a result — positive or negative — to take home with him after games, Lynch saw himself making the leap.

“When you’ve got a guy who had as good of a life setup, with his job and where he was, and he wants to come be a GM for one reason, because he wants to be a part of that working to win again — and that’s how I think, too,” Shanahan said. “There’s a lot of stuff that goes on in this business, and it’s a big-time business and I get that, but when it comes down to it, when you have the people who are working together to try to lead the organization the way they think is pretty simple: It’s about football and really not much else.”

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