Lions add ‘highly coveted’ Jimmy Raye III to personnel team

Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn has made a lot of changes to his front office, and apparently now a full two years in, he isn’t done.

As first reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Lions have added Jimmy Raye III to their personnel team. According to the team’s website, Raye’s official position is Senior Personnel Executive. Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press gives a nice breakdown as to where Raye will rank in terms of being in Bob Quinn’s ear:

As Rapoport notes, Raye was a highly-coveted personnel manager who most recently interviewed for the Carolina Panthers’ general manager position. His NFL resume includes five years as the Chargers’ Director of Player Personnel, four years with the Colts as the Vice President of Football Operations and a year as the Texans’ Vice President of Player Personnel/Assistant General Ganager.

Raye is the son of Jimmy Raye II, who was a short-term NFL player in the 60s and a long-time coach. At one point, he was even briefly the Lions’ running back coach from 1978 to 1979.

This represents yet another move by Bob Quinn to put his stamp on the franchise. Quinn has essentially overhauled everything in the front office, from the scouting department to the media relations department. The fact that he can pull executives that have drawn interest throughout the league has got to be a good sign for the future of this franchise.