Tom Savage, Ufomba Kamalu

The Detroit Lions missed out on adding a backup quarterback in the NFL draft. Pittsburgh's Tom Savage came off the board one pick before the Lions were on the clock at the end of the fourth round.

(AP File Photo)

ALLEN PARK -- One of the lesser roster holes the Detroit Lions failed to address in the 2014 NFL draft was a backup quarterback to compete with Dan Orlovsky and Kellen Moore.

It wasn't from a lack of effort.

While a signal-caller wasn't truly in play until the third and final day of the draft, the Lions just weren't able to get one of the top passers on their board to overlap with when the team was on the clock.

"A number of times we had quarterbacks in the conversation and then we see that they weren't there," Mayhew said. "We put some names up, and by the time we got ready to pick, those guys were gone."

Some of the prospects who were taken shortly before the Lions' selections were Pittsburgh's Tom Savage, LSU's Zach Mettenberger and San Jose State's David Fales.

Detroit had the opportunity to add SEC standouts Aaron Murray or A.J. McCarron in the fifth round, but opted instead for Princeton defensive tackle Caraun Reid. Both Murray and McCarron came off the board in the next six selections.

Although the move won't be official until Monday, the Lions have agreed to terms with undrafted free agent James Franklin, a dual-threat quarterback out of Missouri.

In the days before the draft, Mayhew placed on emphasis on finding a player with quality arm talent, but was intrigued by adding a more athletic option to the roster.

"I like guys that can throw the ball" Mayhew said. "That's the way I grew up in the NFL and in college football, so guys that can sling it are guys that appeal to me. I like the athletic guys. Teams are doing some interesting things with the athletic guys. If you can find an athletic guy that can sling it too, I would really like that guy."

Franklin doesn't exactly fit the bill as a great thrower. He did complete 62.1 percent of his passes, but most of his attempts were to the short and intermediate areas of the field. But as a runner, he gained more than 1,600 yards and found the end zone 19 times the past three seasons.

With a solid offseason, he could push Moore for the No. 3 job.

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