Lions found guilty of tampering, lose draft choices

Following a review and hearing, Commissioner Roger Goodell has determined that the Detroit Lions have violated the NFL Anti-Tampering Policy by commenting publicly to the media about the Lions’ desire to acquire players then under contract to the Kansas City Chiefs and by having impermissible contact with a player (or his agent) under contract to the Chiefs. The violations occurred in 2010.

The Chiefs had filed tampering charges against the Lions to initiate the proceeding.

Commissioner Goodell decided on the following disciplinary action to resolve the matter:

• Detroit will forfeit its seventh-round selection (acquired from Denver) in the 2011 NFL Draft.

• Kansas City and Detroit will switch fifth-round selections in the 2011 Draft. As a result, Kansas City now will have the ninth selection of the round and Detroit the 23rd selection of the fifth round.

Either club may appeal the decision by advising the commissioner in writing of its desire to do so by February 28.