The Lions have gone from doormats to favorites in the NFC North. In a division where the Vikings are shedding talent after a 13-win season, the Packers are shifting from a Hall of Famer to an unknown at quarterback and the Bears are still taking shape, it's the Lions -- a year removed from coming off their fourth straight last-place finish -- who loom largest entering 2023.
"Really, the Lions look like the most — and let me know when we’ve heard this sentence uttered before — the most stable, promising team in the NFC North right now," Adam Schefter said Monday on the Stoney & Jansen Show. "Now, that’s today. Let’s see what happens in September and October. It’s great that it looks that way now, but there are a lot of things that look certain ways in the NFL in June and don’t turn out to be that way in the fall.
"So yeah, there should be hope and excitement, they’ve done a great job, but you still have to go make it happen."
Schefter also dished on the possibility of an extension for Jared Goff, the value of drafting running back Jahmyr Gibbs 12th overall and the unlikelihood of the Lions appealing Jameson Williams' gambling suspension.
Regarding Goff, who made his third Pro Bowl last season and who has two years remaining on his deal, Schefter said it makes sense for the Lions to "keep playing it out" before committing to the 28-year-old for the long haul:
"They’re really happy with him and he’s really happy with them. It seems to have been a great marriage right now. I don’t know if there’s any rush on the Lions’ part to go do that. Maybe it will cost them more in the end, but maybe that’s the better, safer play, to see how that works out. So I don’t think there’s any rush. The bottom line is, I think both sides are very happy to have found each other so far."
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On Gibbs, Schefter said that "there’s a certain monetary value that goes along with a first-round running back that warps the value a little bit," like the fact that Gibbs will automatically be making more than many NFL running backs as soon as he signs his rookie deal:
"But again, if you like the guy and he’s a player, that’s OK. There’s no issue there. You go get the deal done and they did. And if Jahmyr Gibbs produces the way they think he will, it’ll be a great pick."
And regarding Williams' six-game suspension, which stems from an apparent failure on the part of the NFL to educate its players as much as a mistake on the part of Williams, Schefter said the matter is settled and the Lions have little choice but to move on:
"I think everything’s been done there, so it’s not like they’re going to appeal that. These things have been settled, I believe. The rules are the rules. And yes, the league probably could be clearer about gambling, but the rules are something that the players know and we’ve seen players suspended in the past, recently, so you can’t do things like that.
"It’s unfortunate because it’s a little bit of hypocrisy where the league’s got gambling ads in sports books and stadiums, but you cannot bet at your team’s facility. ... And guys are obviously going to be more aware of it now, but I’m sorry, it’s just the way it is. You can’t do that."
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