Earlier this week at the NFL owners meetings in Florida, Detroit Lions general manager Martin Mayhew met with the media. Below is a rundown of what he had to say.

• According to Mayhew, the Lions will begin their draft meetings next week.
• Mayhew had an interesting quote about the draft:
  

  "I really believe the draft is as much about who you’re not going to take as it is about who you’re going to take. And as we get through this and we start to filter through some information, it’s going to become apparent the guys that we’d rather not take."

• According to Mayhew, the Lions discovered fullback James Bryant, who they signed a couple weeks ago, when running backs coach Sam Gash was at the pro day for Miami (Florida). Bryant worked out and Gash liked what he saw enough to invite Bryant up to Allen Park for a workout. The Lions then made the decision to sign him after watching the workout. Before Gash saw him at Miami, Mayhew, like most of us, had never even heard of him.

• Mayhew described new Lions defensive end Everette Brown as a player who "hasn't put it all together yet, but we'll see what he does." Like Jim Schwartz, Mayhew sees Brown as a good fit for their scheme.
• Mayhew said that he doesn't have any plans to let cornerback Alphonso Smith go. Smith was reportedly on the trading block earlier in the offseason.
• After Ndamukong Suh received a ticket for speeding, Mayhew texted him and told him to "slow down a little bit out there, big fella." Mayhew said that the incident doesn't concern him because alcohol wasn't involved, and Mayhew admitted that he's been stopped before for speeding.
• Kevin Smith's new deal with the Lions was finalized at the NFL owners meetings when Mayhew met with Drew Rosenhaus.
• Mayhew said that Smith is a "good back" who has had problems with staying healthy. Mayhew called that an obstacle that Smith is trying to overcome.
• Mayhew would prefer that the NFL trade deadline is moved from Week 6 to Week 8.
• Sirius NFL Radio interviewed Mayhew.

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