Report: Detroit Lions to sign Central Michigan tight end Ben McCord

After losing Tim Wright to a torn ACL, as announced by the team on Tuesday, the Detroit Lions are very shorthanded at the tight end position. According to a report from the Detroit Free Press' Dave Birkett, the Lions will use one of their two empty roster spots to address that need:

The Lions, short-handed at TE after losing Tim Wright, are signing ex-CMU TE Ben McCord.

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) May 31, 2016

Ben McCord is an undrafted rookie free agent out of Central Michigan. Here's what his production was in his four years with the Chippewas:

McCord didn't have much of a receiving impact until his senior year, when his five-touchdown performance earned him All-MAC second team honors. Many believe McCord has excellent hands, but think his blocking technique could use some tweaking.

The Lions have yet to confirm this signing, and it was not on the NFL's list of transactions for Tuesday. However, this move makes sense for a lot of reason. Detroit desperately needs competition at the position after losing Wright for the year. Brandon Pettigrew remains sidelined with a torn ACL suffered in December, while Eric Ebron may be recovering from a more short-term injury yet to be disclosed. The Lions brought in McCord for the local-day pre-draft workout, so they already have built some rapport with them.

UPDATE 5/31/16: The Lions have confirmed the signing of McCord on their official website.