Lions Executive VP-GM Bob Quinn’s pre-draft press conference.

“Now, into the draft. I think this year’s draft is very well-rounded. I think it has depth from Round 1 through Round 7. I think, you know, with our 10 selections we’ll be able to improve our team in the areas of offense, defense and special teams. I think every pick’s important and you obviously want to hit on all your picks, but I think every pick’s important from our first all the way down to our last. As it stands right now, we have 10 draft picks and this time of year is when you’re starting to field calls about moving around in the draft and we’ve definitely had plenty of those here in the last few days. So, you know, we have 10 picks today, we may have 10 picks at the end of the draft, we may have more, we may have less, we’ll see how it goes. But this being my first draft, I’m really excited about it. I really feel good about where we’re at right now in the process. We’re kind of winding things down here, finishing up some meetings here this week and into next week, but I feel like we’re in really good shape and ready for next Thursday.”

On how his various roles with New England have prepared him for his first draft as a general manager: “Yeah, I think at New England I did a lot of different jobs, you know, leading up to the job I’m here today, so I feel like I have an appreciation for everyone’s role in the draft, whether it’s a scouting assistant, whether it’s an area scout or an over-the-top scout, the pro side of things in terms of the draft strategy and the team needs. So, I really think I’ve done a lot of those jobs, maybe not every single one of them, so I feel like I’m at a pretty good position to know what those guys are going through and knowing that everyone’s voice really wants to be heard. I’m trying to do that and take everyone’s opinion on the players and the process into account, and then make the best decision for the Lions.”

On what he learned from being in the draft room at New England: “I think the biggest thing I learned was probably that all the decisions are made before draft day. You know, there’s no big arguments on draft day. The board’s set, you follow the board, you follow what your plan is and there’s really not a lot of discussion about who’s a better player on draft day, either Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Because really all that work’s done in advance, so it’s really a calm room. It’s going to be really quiet and we’ll just let the draft come to us.”

On how much more pressure he feels in his first draft as a general manager: “Of course. I mean, there’s more pressure, of course. I’m making the pick. I mean, that goes without saying. It just goes into putting a little bit more work in, you know? Knowing the entire draft from the first round all the way to the seventh round, including the rookie free agents because ideally on the good teams, you get a couple rookie free agents after the draft that make the team. That really helps the balance of the salary cap and having some lower-cost guys on your roster. So, I think dealing with your staff and making sure we break up the positions and making sure certain guys are concentrating on certain positions, but for me, myself is knowing the entire draft from top to bottom.”

On if he has considered trading QB Matthew Stafford: “I haven’t thought about that, and I have no interest in trading Matthew.”

On the value of holding on to a large salary cap space number this time of the year: “It’s always good to have cap space. I mean, I think there’s things that we want to do in the future that we need to reserve funds for and things during the season that come up that we may need money to sign a player here or there. I never want to be in the position where I don’t have resources to go out and sign a player to improve our team.”