PHOENIX — Sheila Ford Hamp, the daughter of Detroit Lions owner Martha Firestone Ford, is taking on a bigger role in NFL circles as a member of the league’s Super Bowl and Major Events advisory committee.

Hamp is new to the nine-person committee, which provides oversight on the league’s process of picking sites for events like the Super Bowl, NFL draft and Pro Bowl, and has helped coordinate events for this year's 100-year celebration of the NFL.

While Lions president Rod Wood is in his fourth year on the league’s investment committee, Hamp’s appointment is the first committee position held by a member of the Ford family since Bill Ford Jr. was on the league’s broadcasting committee in 2015 and it signifies a potentially more visible role for the woman many assume is in line to be the next Lions owner.

Hamp, one of the Lions' four vice chairs along the other Ford children, Bill Jr., Martha Ford Morse and Elizabeth Ford Kontulis, has been a visible presence at Lions games both home and away in recent seasons and is in attendance at the league’s annual meetings at the Arizona Biltmore this week.

While no Super Bowls or draft sites are schedule to be awarded in Arizona, the league will soon begin the bidding process for Super Bowls in 2025 and beyond, and for drafts in 2021 and later.

[ Bob Quinn: Few 'sure bets in free agency' but Lions money well spent ]

The Lions were denied a bid to host one of the next two drafts, in Nashville next month and Las Vegas next year, but remain interested in hosting the event in the future.

Along with Hamp, Cincinnati Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn, Jacksonville Jaguars president Mark Lamping and owners Jim Irsay (Colts), Jeffrey Lurie (Eagles), Mark Wilf (Vikings), Kim Pegula (Bills) and Amy Strunk (Titans) make up the committee.

"She’s relatively new to (the committee), but I think she has a great knowledge of the business overall and then a real understanding and is very close to so many components of the business and the game, and that comes through in the conversations we have," said Peter O'Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business and league events. "And I think members of the ownership and others who give their time to join these committees, that’s telling. That’s someone who wants to be engaged and help make not only the Lions better but the league better and that’s always her perspective."

A few more tidbits from Phoenix

• The Rams felt compelled to match the Lions’ offer for restricted free agent running back Malcolm Brown not necessarily because of Todd Gurley’s health but because Brown is such a key contributor on special teams. Brown played only about 28 percent of the Rams’ special-teams snaps last year, but he missed the final quarter of the season with a clavicle injury (one he suffered against the Lions) and projects to play an even bigger role in the kicking game this fall.

The money the Lions offered Brown for 2019 ($2.1 million in first-year guarantees) was similar to what they gave Johnson Bademosi in the first year of his contract back in 2016, which is good for a special-teams player but not overwhelming enough to force the cap-strapped Rams to pass.

• NFL Network reported Monday the Lions are hosting wide receiver Dontrelle Inman on a free-agent visit. Inman, 30, caught 28 passes for 304 yards with the Indianapolis Colts last season. He’s hardly a game-changer, but he would give the Lions another big receiver to play outside if he signs.

The Lions already have added two receivers this offseason, Danny Amendola and Tommylee Lewis, and they return Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones from last year. Jones is on an affordable enough deal (he makes just $6.5 million this fall) that it doesn’t make sense to trade him, but I still wonder about his fit with Lions coach Matt Patricia.

• Rashaan Melvin didn’t play his best football last season with the Oakland Raiders, but the belief in Detroit is that he’s much better suited for the Lions defense. Melvin played for Patricia in New England, of course, and the Lions even reached out to the Raiders about trading for him last season.

I don’t believe his addition precludes the Lions from going cornerback somewhere high in the draft (Day 2 more likely than Day 1, in my opinion), but the Lions are hopeful that Melvin will return to the form he showed with the Indianapolis Colts in 2017.

• I reported back in January that defensive tackle Damon Harrison changed agents in part hoping for a new contract. There’s nothing cooking there yet, but Harrison's representatives have at least inquired about that possibility.

Lions general manager Bob Quinn said Monday that redoing Harrison's deal is not high on his priority list right now. Harrison has two years left on his current contract with base salaries of $6.75 million in 2019 and $9 million in 2020, plus $250,000 workout bonuses each year.

"It’s something that I got to talk to Drew (Rosenhaus) this week, and going into the future something that’s really not something that I need to do right now," Quinn said. "It’s something that my priority right now is the draft. Got another month or so before the draft is here, so that’s something that we’ll probably talk about May. May or June."

• Ziggy Ansah appears to be at least a few weeks — and perhaps many more — away from signing a free-agent deal. Ansah still is recovering from the torn labrum that ended his 2018 season with the Lions. He’s drawn serious interest from teams like the San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints, and could resume taking visits next month. The hope is that Ansah will be ready for the start of the 2019 season.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.

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