Around this time a year ago, the Detroit Lions made the decision to not bring back running back Kevin Smith. He was set to become an unrestricted free agent, but the Lions declined to tender him an offer, meaning he became an unrestricted free agent.

Smith was out of football until the Lions brought him back in the middle of the 2011 season. Finally healthy, he resumed his career with a few carries against the Chicago Bears and then put together an amazing game against the Carolina Panthers. Unfortunately, he dealt with injuries again later in the season, but when healthy he provided a nice boost to the Lions' running game.

With Smith set to become a free agent again this offseason, it's unclear if he will be back with the Lions in 2012. If it were up to him, though, he wouldn't be going anywhere.

"In every interview that I've done, even though I'm a free agent, I've referred to the team and me as us," Smith said. "I'm on the Lions roster in my opinion until I'm not on the Lions roster. That says it all."

If the Lions do decide to bring him back, they could have a backfield that consists of Smith, Jahvid Best and Mikel Leshoure next season. Injuries have been an issue with all three of them, but on paper, that is a pretty solid combination of running backs.

ESPN gets a lot of well-deserved criticism for some of the ways it covers sports, but one area where it receives a lot of well-deserved praise is in the commercial department. ESPN's "This Is SportsCenter" commercials have always been hilarious, mainly because they work athletes into comical situations in the offices of ESPN.

I'm not quite sure what the premise of ESPN's newest "This Is SportsCenter" commercial is, but it's going to feature Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, as well as Hairy Dawg, the mascot for Stafford's alma mater, the University of Georgia.

Flight tonight to @espn headquarters in Bristol to shoot the "This is @SportsCenter" commercial with @Staff_9. #GoDawgs

— Hairy Dawg (@UGAHairyDawg) February 9, 2012

I don't think a Lions player has been in a "This Is SportsCenter" commercial before. Actually, upon taking a quick look at the list of commercials over the years, I don't think a single Detroit athlete has been in one before. I know Sparty, Michigan State's mascot, has made a few appearances, but as far as I can tell, a Detroit athlete has not until now.

UPDATE: As pointed out by BtotheLT, Gordie Howe was in a "This Is SportsCenter" commercial.

When the Detroit Lions' list of free agents for 2012 was released, one name on there was a blast from the past. I'm referring to linebacker Cody Brown, who hadn't been heard from since he was claimed off waivers from the New York Jets last summer by the Lions. The reason for this is because he was placed on the did not report list after, well, not reporting.

With free agency set to begin in another month and some change, the Lions were in line to retain Brown's rights. He was going to be an exclusive-rights free agent, but the Lions cut him free this week, according to Dave Birkett.

The Lions officially cut LB Cody Brown earlier this week. He never reported after being claimed off waivers from Jets earlier this year

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) February 8, 2012

With Brown being cut, he is now an unrestricted free agent.

It turns out quarterback Matthew Stafford isn't the only Detroit Lions player who received an increase in his base salary for 2012. Offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus and safety Louis Delmas also triggered escalators that will give them a higher salary next season, according to Dave Birkett.

Specifically, Cherilus will have a base salary of $2.31 million in 2012. This is up from $1.56 million, meaning his salary went up by $750,000. As for Delmas, his salary went up about $115,000. Originally he was set to make $822,000 in 2012, but now he will get a salary of "just over" $937,000.

Last month, we found out that Stafford's salary went up by $1 million because he hit certain performance incentives in 2011. He will make $11.5 million in 2012 as a result, bringing his cap number up to slightly more than $17 million.

Calvin Johnson is also scheduled to be paid more next season based on what he did this past season. He didn't increase his base salary for 2012, but he did trigger a $4.5 million contract bonus by finishing at the top of several receiving categories. Of course, this is based on the assumption that he doesn't get a new deal. If he does, then all of the bonuses and stuff like that will be reworked.

With Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz set to enter the final year of his contract in 2012, an extension is in order. As head coach of the Lions, Schwartz followed up a 2-14 record in his first year with a 6-10 record in year No. 2 and a 10-6 record in 2011, his third year at the helm. The turnaround the franchise has had under his direction is something the Lions had been trying to do for nearly a decade, but it didn't happen until Schwartz became the head coach.

There hasn't been much news on Schwartz's potential extension recently. All we know right now is that the Lions want to give him one, but where the talks stand is unknown. Unsurprisingly, Schwartz isn't interested in sharing any information related to his contract.

"The next time I talk about my contract will be never.

"That’s just something that I’m not going to really comment on, because it has nothing to do with where we are, the success of the team, it has nothing to do with what we do on a daily basis."

Chances are the Lions are more concerned with negotiating with their impending free agents and Calvin Johnson, but I would imagine getting an extension done with Schwartz is near the top of the list of priorities for this offseason.

Last year, the best Super Bowl commercial for many people was Chrysler's spot about the Chrysler 200 and the city of Detroit. It featured Eminem and focused on the resilience of the city of Detroit. It introduced the "Imported From Detroit" tagline, as well as the following line: "This is the Motor City, and this is what we do."

During the first half of the Super Bowl, I was wondering how Chrysler planned to follow up last year's ad. I didn't think it could be topped, but I was still curious to see what Chrysler had put together. During halftime, this commercial was unveiled:

Once again, Chrysler went with the Detroit fighting back angle, and this time Clint Eastwood was used in the commercial. Personally, I think Chrysler hit the ball out of the park for the second year in a row. Some commercials go for making people laugh, and others try to catch people's attention with CGI, but Chrysler went with one with a powerful message, and I applaud them for it. Great work once again.

• The Lions have "had ongoing discussions" with soon-to-be free agents Cliff Avril, Stephen Tulloch, Eric Wright, Jeff Backus and Shaun Hill, according to Tom Lewand. The Lions have also had some discussions with Calvin Johnson, who has one year left on his deal.
  
• Matthew Stafford was asked during an interview with Dan Patrick if he wants a Super Bowl ring or an engagement ring first. His answer? A Super Bowl ring. You can check out the full interview here.
  
• Ndamukong Suh has been in London this week. He is there to represent NFL International, and he got a chance to check out a soccer game. (He also checked back in with another picture of the lion statue in Trafalgar Square.
• Suh appeared on ESPN's "Face-To-Face" earlier this week and defended his playing style.
  
• Bill Belichick isn't surprised that Jim Schwartz has been successful in Detroit.
• Aaron Lavarias, who has been on both the Lions and Patriots practice squad, thinks there are a lot of similarities between Schwartz and Belichick.
• Schwartz was a defensive assistant for the Titans when they went to Super Bowl XXXIV.
• The Lions website has video of Schwartz's time on radio row this week, as well as video of Stafford making the rounds. Justin Rogers has a text recap of their many interviews.
• SportsBusinessJournal has an advertiser chart for the Super Bowl.
• Deadspin has a look at all of the preparation that goes into a Super Bowl broadcast, and SI has a guide to NBC's coverage.
  

As great of an honor it is for Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford to be recognized as the 2011 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, the hope is that he never will have a chance to win it again. Stafford had to battle injuries in his first two years in the NFL, and in 2011 he came back by playing a full season and putting up some outrageous numbers. He definitely deserved the award, but as Stafford has said during interviews and as Jim Schwartz said on Twitter Saturday night, hopefully this will be the last time Stafford is in a position to be considered for the award.

And congratulations to Matt Stafford on his first (and last) NFL Comeback Player of the Year award.

— Jim Schwartz (@jschwartzlions) February 5, 2012

Schwartz and his son were in attendance to watch Stafford receive the award. Former Lions running back Barry Sanders was also at NFL Honors, as he helped present one of the other awards.

Hopefully at this time next year Stafford will be named the recipient of some of the other awards, such as NFL MVP and NFL Offensive Player of the Year. Then again, let's also hope that even if he is under consideration for awards next year that he will be too busy preparing for the Super Bowl to be at the show.