Dear Santa,

I’ve been meaning to write to you sooner, but I’ve been busy worrying about our football team. You see, it’s had some troubles over the past few years. Maybe it is because the team has been on your naughty list, but I thought I would write you just the same.

The Detroit Lions signed free agent outside linebacker Bobby Carpenter on Wednesday and also claimed center Cody Wallace off the New York Jets’ practice squad and both moves have an interesting twist to them.

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan spent three seasons running the Minnesota Vikings’ offense, and one of his former colleagues thinks he’d be a good fit to return to the state — as the next head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers.