The Detroit Lions are making some intriguing moves in their personnel department, with the latest buzz being the expected hiring of John Collins as a scouting assistant. Collins is coming off a stint as the assistant director of personnel at Michigan, where he's been since 2024.
His resume is quite the football journey, having previously sharpened his skills at Georgia as a personnel and recruiting analyst. Let's not forget his earlier roles at Temple and even a training camp gig with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Collins was part of the Georgia Bulldogs' staff when they clinched the national championship to wrap up the 2022 season, a testament to his experience with winning programs. Now, he's stepping into a Lions franchise that's been on a roll with four consecutive winning seasons. The Lions have been making waves, especially with their NFC championship game appearance in 2023 and a stellar 15-2 record in 2024, which saw them enter the playoffs as the NFC's top seed.
But Collins isn't the only fresh face in Detroit's front office. The Lions have also brought in Chris Grier, the former Miami Dolphins general manager, as a personnel executive.
Grier's decade-long tenure with the Dolphins saw them enjoy five winning seasons, including an impressive stretch from 2020 to 2023, and three playoff appearances. Although his time in Miami ended last season, his experience and track record of building competitive teams could be a significant asset for the Lions as they continue to strengthen their roster.
With these strategic additions, the Lions are clearly setting their sights on maintaining their upward trajectory in the NFL. It'll be exciting to see how Collins and Grier contribute to Detroit's ongoing success story.
In Other News...
Dolphins May Already Have Another Draft Class Problem Brewing
The Dolphins draft haul from the past two years is already setting up a fresh round of front-office decisions, and the calendar is moving faster than Miami would probably like. General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan will have to sort through a number of contract questions after the 2026 season, with Patrick Paul headed toward a contract year in 2027 and no fifth-year option to soften the timeline.
Chop Robinson gives Miami a different kind of decision because the club does have a fifth-year option in play, and his 2026 performance figures to weigh heavily on how the Dolphins handle it. Elsewhere in that same class and the one around it, Jaylen Wright is not viewed as a sure long-term piece, Tahj Washington is fighting for a place at all, and Malik Washington has shown enough growth to look like part of the plan for now before his own contract situation comes due after 2027. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins May Have Let 5 Costly Roster Mistakes Walk Away
Miamis offseason roster churn left the front office with a familiar question: how much depth can a team afford to lose before it starts feeling the effects in the fall? The Dolphins moved on from a handful of players or let them test the market, and several of those names have already found new homes elsewhere, including stops with the Chiefs, Chargers, Giants and 49ers. For a team trying to keep pace in a competitive AFC, those are the kinds of departures that can look routine in March and a lot more significant once the games start counting.
What makes the situation worth watching is that this is not just about star power, but about the supporting cast that helps a roster hold together over a long season. Miamis decision-making around players such as Kader Kohou, Cole Strange, Elijah Campbell, Jack Jones and Alec Ingold could end up being judged less by what it saved in the moment and more by what it leaves exposed later. The real test will come when the Dolphins need reliable snaps, familiar roles and answers from the bottom and middle of the roster, and those are the spots that are hardest to replace on the fly. [Read more 🡒]
Hill And Waddle Fell Agonizingly Short Of Dolphins History
Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle did plenty in Miami to leave a mark, but when it comes to the Dolphins all-time receiving yards list, both former stars ended up just short of history. O.J. McDuffie still owns the fifth and final spot on that leaderboard with 5,074 yards, a number that has become a small but stubborn benchmark for every wideout who has come through the building since.
Hill was closer than most people might realize, and Waddle was even nearer to becoming one of the five most productive receivers in franchise history. Instead, the current Miami pass-catching group is staring up at a record book that still feels a long way off, with Malik Washington leading the active receivers but nowhere near putting McDuffies place in real danger anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]