By Christy Strawser

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) Jim Caldwell blamed the media for negativity after another abysmal start to the season led to numerous editorials and public comments calling for the Lions to be sold away from the Ford family.

It’s so bad that conflicted fans filled message boards on trade deadline day yesterday, begging the team to let go of Calvin Johnson so Megratron can get what he deserves on a team capable of achieving it — a Super Bowl ring.

Piling on, some fans are so frustrated there are a couple of go fund me accounts from folks trying to raise money to buy the team.

The Ford family, which has owned the team since William Clay Ford Sr. bought controlling interest in 1963, is taking a rash of blame for decades of crushing fans with lackluster seasons.

Current owner Martha Ford is 90 years old and the family has given no indication of their plans of succession. Is any family member interested in keeping the Lions? Who would rise to the management forefront? Or will they sell?

WWJ’s Jeff Lesson, who grew up with flashy Detroit billionaire and Midtown reviver Dan Gilbert, thinks he has the answer. If the family ever decided to sell, they should sell it to Gilbert.

“It has been his lifelong dream to own the struggling franchise and turn it around,” Lesson said live on WWJ Wednesday morning, adding “There could not be a better choice.”

He said he knows “for a fact” Gilbert really wants to own the Lions.

If true, and if the Lions ever came on the market, he would have to make some serious decisions. The NFL has stringent owner requirements, disallowing owners from having a major stake in any other team, even in another sport. NFL owner rules are fairly complicated and say an owner can own teams in other sports only if those teams are in the same city as the NFL franchise they own or in a city where there is no NFL team.

Notably, Gilbert made headlines last week for his Cavaliers’ payroll, spending enormous sums to lock up top players. Per ESPN, since the end of last season, the Cavs have spent nearly $300 million in new contracts, including $113 million to Kevin Love, $82 million to Tristan Thompson and $47 million to LeBron James.

Gilbert’s payroll is $175.6 million this season, the second-highest in league history.

“We’re committed; we’re all-in … When you invest in something like a sports franchise and you’re in for so much … if you at the margins start pulling back, I think that may be foolish on a lot of fronts,” Gilbert said to ESPN before the Cavs beat the Miami Heat 102-92. “We’re investing for the future as well as the current.”

What would spending like that do the Lions? Fans can only guess.

Many estimate if the Lions ever went on the market, they would sell for more than $1 billion. The most recent major sports team to change owners was the Clippers, which went for $2 billion in a sale to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Detroit booster Gilbert’s net worth is estimated at $4.5 billion.