[dirk digler]

Interesting enough from a Lions website:

Thanks to a proposal passed at an NFL meeting this morning, they now have the potential to interview and hire employees of playoff teams before their playoff run is over.

Previously, there were restrictions on when teams could interview candidates under contract with playoff teams, and teams could not hire those candidates until after their seasons ended.

Basically, after the regular season ends, the Lions can request permission to interview anyone who doesn’t have full control over personnel decisions with his team. But the candidate’s team has the right to deny permission. (If the team gives permission to one team to interview a person, it must give permission to every team that asks.)

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the proposal was submitted by the competition committee, not the Lions. Ironically, former Lions president Matt Millen used to be on the competition committee.

The proposal “allows employees of playoff clubs that are not high-level employees to be interviewed by other clubs for high-level positions during the postseason with the permission of the employer club and at the convenience of the employer club (not during a specific window only) and hired,” Aiello said. “The playoff club can deny permission to all requests. If it gives permission to such a person to be interviewed, that permission must be granted to any club that requests it during the postseason. An individual that is already a high-level employee is not eligible to be interviewed.”