The Detroit Lions have begun discussing an extension with Matthew Stafford.

"Matthew Stafford is our quarterback, and we hope is our quarterback for a long time," Lewand said, via MLive.com. "The reason to explore a contract extension with Matthew is to fulfill that goal of having him be our quarterback for a long time. It's not a short-term look at the salary cap.

"That's the wrong way to look at that. When you look at extending somebody like Matthew, he's not going to take less money to extend. That's a very short-term focus to look at."

Stafford will earn $12 million in 2013, but his cap hit is at $20.3 million.

The Detroit Lions have 'real' interest in Reggie Bush this offseason.

The Lions had hoped Jahvid Best would fill their hybrid running back role, but has suffered a series of concussions.

Matthew Stafford has the largest cap number in the NFL at $20.82 million.

Stafford takes up 17.1 percent of the Lions' cap assuming it is $122 million.

Tom Brady previously had the highest cap number before his restructured deal.

Calvin Johnson broke the NFL's record for most receiving yards in a season despite playing with three broken fingers in one hand.

Johnson had two broken fingers for most of the season.

Johnson has been seen around Detroit with his hand wrapped.

Brian Xanders has been put in charge of changing the way the Detroit Lions' scouting department evaluates players.

Xanders has been tasked with creating a new, proprietary scouting database for the Lions to use in both college and pro scouting. 

Xanders has done similar things for other teams in the past.

“There are a lot of things that you can do with it,” general manager Martin Mayhew said, via the Detroit Free Press. “If you’re on the clock or during the draft if you want to compare player to player, the ability to line up all their stats, all their measurables, all their combine data, and look at that on a screen and compare it player to player instead of going by recollection or flipping through books or changing from one database to another on a laptop. That kind of information is the kind of thing that he’s done in the past and that’s just one example. There are kind of different things we can do with it.”

The Detroit Lions ran more offensive snaps against defenses with six or fewer players in the box than any team in the NFL, largely due to the extra attention Calvin Johnson receives.

Despite facing six-man fronts, the Lions were unable to effectively run the ball.

The Lions broke only four carries for 20 or more yards, which is also a symptom of seeing defenders on the second level.

The St. Louis Rams have claimed Titus Young.

Young was waived by the Detroit Lions on Monday.

Jeff Fisher has a history of taking risks on volatile but talented players.

The Rams were the only team to file a claim on Young.

Titus Young was released by the Detroit Lions on Monday, ending his short tenure with the team.

Many of Young's former coaches have reached out to him as his NFL career spirals.

“He did tell me he thought he was just as good Megatron (Calvin Johnson),” Young's high school coach E.C. Robinson recalled late last month. “I said, ‘Titus, come on.’ I said, ‘Come on, man. Who you talking to?’ I said, ‘Come on, you’re as good as that guy? This guy is the real deal.’ And he really believes this. And he was sincere about it. ‘Ah man, I’m better than him.’ I said, ‘No you’re not. Be real man. Come on.’ So I don’t know, I’m hoping for the best for him.”

The Detroit Lions have released Titus Young.

Young tweeted in January that he preferred to be released if the Lions weren't going to include him in their future plans.

Young has caught 81 balls for 990 yards over his first 26 NFL games after playing collegiately at Boise State.