The Lions want to wait until they have a general manager to decide on coach Jim Caldwell’s future.
But if they stick with that plan, they could miss out on several of the winter’s top candidates.
By NFL rule, the Lions can’t interview general manager candidates currently employed by other teams until the regular season ends Jan. 3.
Depending on how thorough that interview process is, it could take a week or more to make a hire.
If that happens, the Lions would miss out on the interview window for assistant coaches on playoff teams with a first-round bye, and perhaps cut into the window for assistants on wild-card teams that win their first-round playoff game.