Martin Mayhew, Tom Lewand Fired by Lions: Latest Details, Comments, Reaction

The Detroit Lions aren't waiting until the offseason to begin sweeping organizational changes. General manager Martin Mayhew and president Tom Lewand were fired Thursday after the team's 1-7 start.

ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported the news. The team confirmed it later that day, per Albert Breer of NFL Network. 

Chairwoman Martha Ford said she was "very disappointed" in the team's performance this season, per Tim Twentyman of Lions.com. Ford also named Sheldon White as interim general manager, per Twentyman. 

The Lions will start a national search for a new general manager on Thursday, Ford said, per Conor Orr of NFL.com. "Our fans deserve a winning football team," she added, per Orr. 

Mayhew released a statement on Friday, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press:

Mayhew, 50, has been the Lions' general manager since 2008. He's spearheaded the decisions to draft Matthew Stafford, Ndamukong Suh and a number of the other pillars who helped reshape the franchise’s outlook. The Lions, who had not made the playoffs since 1999 before Mayhew took over, have gone twice in the past four seasons, including 2014.

Lewand was named president after the team's 0-16 campaign in 2008. He's been with the organization for a number of years, previously serving as the Lions' executive vice president and chief operating officer. The Lions’ official website described his duties as handling “day-to-day operations and reports to Mr. Ford on all business, organizational and NFL matters.” 

Mayhew had the final say on personnel and coaching decisions, which led to his downfall. Detroit is one of the NFL’s most disappointing teams at 1-7. The defense, which was among the league’s best last season, has fallen to mediocrity after the departure of Suh and Nick Fairley in free agency. 

Golden Tate took to Twitter to express his surprise: 

Offensively, the Lions rank 29th in Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric and have seen Stafford substantially regress. The former No. 1 overall pick is on pace for his first 20-interception season since his rookie year and was even benched once for Dan Orlovsky, a veteran journeyman whose most notable moment in Detroit was stepping out of the back of the end zone in 2008. Stafford’s struggles played a part in the firing of offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, who was fired alongside two offensive assistants before Week 8.

Thursday's firings come as part of a "total wipeout" within the Lions organization, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. It's unclear who else may be let go in the coming hours or days. 

Josina Anderson of ESPN passed along comments from a Lions coach, who said “I’m just at home watching film. My phone hasn’t rang. No idea this was coming. I heard about it and turned on the tv like everybody else."

Rapoport reported that head coach Jim Caldwell will not be fired at this time. However, given the clean sweep that's apparently going on here, it's pretty apparent he's a lame duck. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller highlighted the Lions' likely reasoning for keeping Caldwell on for now and also noted a potential new general manager:

“Hey, you know what, I’m working every single day,” Caldwell said, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “My job is to get in and get my job done. Those things are answered by someone else and not me. But I fully anticipate being able to continue to do my job.”

While we'll have to wait until the offseason, these moves may lead to a roster overhaul in Detroit as well. Stafford turns 28 in February and has thrown 30 touchdown passes in his career just once. Calvin Johnson just turned 30. It's more likely than not the next regime keeps them around simply because there are few better options available, but they'd be remiss if they didn't test the market and see if Johnson especially could bring back a draft-pick haul.

After years of ugly dead-money hits, moving on from Johnson and Stafford would actually save the Lions more than $22 million in 2016. It's at the very least something to think about for whoever replaces Mayhew and Lewand.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter