Lions Name Richard Haddad as President and CEO, Replacing Rod Wood

Richard Haddad is the new president and CEO of the Detroit Lions, the team announced Wednesday. He comes from the NBA's Pistons, where he spent the past 14 years. Rod Wood is out after more than a decade in the role.

The timing is notable. Detroit is in the middle of a busy training camp — Gibbs just got his extension, Sione Vaki is hurt, the secondary remains thin — and now the franchise is also installing new leadership at the top of the organizational chart. Haddad steps in while the football operation is already moving at full speed.

What he inherits is a franchise that went 9–8 last season and missed the playoffs after winning 14 and 15 games the two years prior. The football problems are well-documented at this point. The front-office questions are newer.