Detroit Lions Sign Free Agent Running Backs, May Have Tampered With Ricky Williams

by Jacob Burg on Tue, Aug 9, 2011 at 10:41AM

The Detroit Lions lost out on the Ricky Williams sweepstakes, so they figured it'd be best to make their running back acquisition a double feature.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Lions have announced they have signed running backs Mike Bell and Jerome Harrison.

After losing second-round draft pick Mikel Leshoure to a season-ending Achilles tendon injury, the Lions scrambled to find a second back to pair up with Jahvid Best. They found their answer — or, rather, answers — in Bell and Harrison. While Harrison has never been more than a backup in his six years in the league, Bell saw significant time with the New Orleans Saints in 2009. The sixth-year back out of Arizona rushed for 654 yards and scored five touchdowns during the Saints Super Bowl-winning season.

Meanwhile, according to the Sun Sentinel, Williams had a few words to say about the Lions. After signing with the Baltimore Ravens, the running back joined Sid Rosenberg on 560-WQAM on Monday afternoon. During the interview, Williams essentially — intentionally or not — accused Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan of tampering.

"Last year when we played the Lions, Scott Linehan, who was the offensive coordinator here with coach [Nick] Saban, he came up to me after the game, and he said that if you need a home, we'd love to have you on our team."

This is defined as tampering because Williams was under contract with the Dolphins at the time, and NFL teams are not allowed to talk to players under contract with other teams.