Domenik Hixon agrees to deal with Panthers

The Detroit Lions are now officially not "in play" for wide receiver Domenik Hixon. That's because Hixon has agreed to a deal with the Carolina Panthers, the team that hosted him for a visit earlier this week.

It's no surprise that Hixon has signed with a team other than the Lions. He reportedly held an offer from the Lions going back to the start of free agency, but Hixon "tabled" it in order to explore a "better opportunity." For him, that led to visits with the Oakland Raiders and Panthers, and he decided to sign with Carolina.

This news comes a couple days after the Lions lost out on wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, who decided to sign with the Indianapolis Colts. The Lions would like to add a No. 2 type of wide receiver, but they haven't been able to land one just yet.

If the Lions are unable to land a free-agent wide receiver, chances are they will just draft one. They have already hosted three wide receivers for pre-draft visits, and they could be targeting one for the second day of the draft.