Lions won't say if they'll pick up Riley Reiff's option

PHOENIX - Martin Mayhew used the owners meetings last year to announce that the Detroit Lions were not going to pick up the fifth year option on Nick Fairley's rookie contract.

On Monday, he said the team is still deciding what to do with Riley Reiff.

"I'm not going to get into that right now," Mayhew said over lunch with beat reporters at the Arizona Biltmore. "We haven't made a final determination on how that process is going to go."

Under the collective bargaining agreement, all rookie draft picks get four-year contracts and teams hold a fifth-year option on first-round picks. For players picked outside the top 10 such as Reiff, the fifth-year salary is equal to the average of the 25 highest-paid players a position, excluding the top three, and guaranteed for injury only.

The Lions passed on Fairley's option at a cost of $5.477 million because of concerns about his injury history and work ethic last year, then let him go in free agency earlier this month.

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Reiff, whose option would be worth more than $7.5 million, has neither of those concerns working against him. He's started 32 of a possible 33 games the last two years, including the playoffs, but the Lions have not yet determined what position he'll play this fall.

Reiff has played primarily left tackle in his career, but some in the organization think he's a better fit for guard and the Lions don't currently have a starting left guard on their roster.

They remain in the mix to sign free agent Justin Blalock, have been in dialogue with Rob Sims about returning for a sixth season, and hope to add an offensive lineman somewhere early in the draft.

Mayhew said Lions coach Jim Caldwell will decide where Reiff plays this year, though that decision could hinge on what happens in the draft and free agency.

"He's a heck of a good football player," Mayhew said. "There's a lot of speculation about (whether) we're going to move him. I think he can play anywhere he wants to play and play at a high level."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@davebirkett.