The Lions will be making a big change at the top of their organization.
President and CEO Rod Wood announced on Wednesday that he will retire from those roles. A search for a successor will begin immediately and Wood will step down once that person is found. The team expects that to happen before the 2026 season gets underway.
“I want to thank the Ford Family and ultimately Lions fans everywhere for trusting me to lead the Detroit Lions for the last 11 seasons,” Wood said in a statement. “It has been an absolute thrill for me to lead this organization, and I am proud of what we have accomplished over that decade-plus. I am most proud of where I am leaving this organization, in the capable hands of Sheila Hamp, Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell.”
Wood joined the Lions in 2015 after working for the Ford family office and in other financial management positions.
A strange story emerged on Monday that potentially involves, indirectly, Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold.
The item from Kylie Jones of Fox13News.com paints a confusing picture of allegations and counter-allegations that resulted in a Tuesday pretrial detention hearing for two men — Lyndell Hudson and Christion Williams.
A detective testified during the hearing that Hudson is part of Arnold’s security team, and that Williams is believed to be Arnold’s cousin. (It’s unknown whether that claim is accurate.) Hudson and Williams were, per the report, arrested for armed robbery and kidnapping in connection with an apparent attempt to recover property that allegedly had been stolen from a home rented by Arnold. The missing items include high-end bags, guns, a cellphone, and $100,000 in cash.
Three men allegedly were lured to an apartment by two women, at which time Hudson and Williams allegedly beat them and held them at gunpoint.
“They are battering the three victims, and they are pistol whipping them, and they are taking a handgun and sticking it into the mouth of a victim,” the detective testified. The detective added that the men who allegedly inflicted the beating were demanding the return of the stolen property.
Lawyers for Hudson and Williams tried to poke holes in the charges, arguing that it was a messy stew of accusations.
“So it’s the suspects blaming the alleged victims,” Hudson’s attorney asked the detective in court. “The alleged victims [blame] the suspects, but here today, you have chosen to believe the alleged victims, solely on hearsay from both sides?”
The presiding judge later addressed the hearsay issue.
“There is a lot of hearsay, and I understand the defense argument regarding the necessity of the credibility of the alleged victims,” Judge Christopher Sabella later said. “The key here though, the problem for the defense is that the exhibits that include the text messages corroborate the hearsay in this case, and they do show what appears to be a lengthy incident, an hour and a half incident where three victims were being held hostage at gunpoint and were being threatened. . . .
“I am not finding them guilty today,” Sabella added. “It’s a very different standard, but the text messages are very compelling in conjunction with what the detective has indicated.”
Sabella granted the prosecution’s motion for pretrial detention, denying bond for Hudson and Williams. The current charges are robbery with a firearm, kidnapping with possession of a firearm, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
The case seems like the incident that ultimately resulted in the Nevada arrest and conviction of O.J. Simpson. Basically, one or more thefts allegedly happened from the home rented by Arnold, and two men with possible connections to Arnold allegedly used extreme measures in an effort to recover the stolen goods.
The overriding question, obviously, is whether Arnold will be accused in connection with the effort to locate and obtain the stolen items. For now, Arnold faces no accusations whatsoever.
UPDATE 11:58 a.m. ET: Fox 13 has added an editor’s note to its story. “A representative for Terrion Arnold responded and clarified that Hudson is not a security guard for Arnold, and that Williams is not Arnold’s cousin,” the note explains.
The Dolphins hired Nathaniel Hackett as their quarterbacks coach, but they had interest in interviewing Bruce Gradkowski for the job before adding Hackett to Jeff Hafley’s staff.
Miami requested to interview Lions offensive assistant Bruce Gradkowski for the job. The Lions denied the request, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
Because he is under contract to the Lions and the position is considered a lateral move, the team was allowed to decline the Dolphins’ request.
Gradkowski played 37 games, with 20 starts, as an NFL quarterback, with the Bucs, Browns, Raiders, Bengals and Steelers. He last played in the NFL in 2014.
Gradkowski served as the St. Louis BattleHawks’ offensive coordinator in the spring league in 2023-24 before joining the Lions in the 2025 offseason.
Dan Skipper’s days of helping the Lions as an offensive lineman are over, but he’s reportedly set to continue contributing to the team in another way.
Rachel Hopmeyer of CBS Detroit reports that Skipper will be joining the team’s coaching staff for the 2026 season. Skipper announced his retirement in January after playing 70 games for the Lions since joining the team in 2017.
After announcing his retirement, Skipper worked with offensive linemen and tight ends at this year’s East/West Shrine Game.
Skipper’s role is not known, but the team has lost assistant tight ends coach Sean Ryan to the Lions and assistant offensive line coach Steve Oliver is set to become the team’s tight ends coach, so there are roles to fill on the staff in Detroit.
Lions left tackle Taylor Decker is used to facing pressure, but he won’t be getting any from Penei Sewell.
Decker said at the end of the regular season that he will be taking some time to decide whether or not to return for the 2026 season. Decker battled a shoulder injury throughout the 2025 campaign and said that he needs to “make informed decisions” about continuing his career because of the impact that his health has on his entire family.
Losing Decker would leave a big hole for the Lions to replace on their offensive line, but Sewell told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press last week that he won’t be doing any lobbying to keep Decker in the fold.
“I give Big Dog his space,” Sewell said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “He’s been in it for quite some time now, so he deserves it and whatever he decides it’s the best thing for him.”
Decker has spent the last 10 years with the Lions. If he does retire, moving Sewell over from right tackle would be one of the team’s options to replace him.
