Centers Alex Mack of California, Eric Wood of Louisville and Max Unger of Oregon are widely considered the top three interior linemen in the draft. The Lions have done their diligence on each and could draft one with the first pick of the second round.

According to league sources, Lions offensive line coach George Yarno (along with Jaguars tight ends coach Mike Tice) ran Mack's pro-day workout at California last month, the Lions attended Unger's personal workout conducted by Broncos coaches days earlier (and sat down there for a private film session with him), and Wood is one of 30 prospects the Lions brought to Detroit for a physical and visit.

All three players are projected late first- or early second-round picks, and all have been busy crisscrossing the country recently. Mack has traveled to Cleveland, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and met with Atlanta general manager Thomas Dimitroff; Unger visited Pittsburgh on Tuesday; and Wood was expected in Cincinnati and Cleveland this week.

The Lions, who allowed a league-high 169 sacks the last three years, are looking for more physical linemen as they try and rebuild their offensive front. If they draft Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford No. 1 overall as expected and pass on Baylor tackle Jason Smith and Virginia's Eugene Monroe, they might find the most value in a versatile lineman like Mack, Wood or Unger at pick 33. Known primarily as centers in college, all three have the temperament to play guard in the NFL, the size the Lions covet (they're all at least 6-foot-3 and 309 pounds), and could revert back to center if the Lions decide not to sign Dominic Raiola to a contract extension.

So far this offseason, the Lions have re-signed guard Stephen Peterman and backups George Foster and Damion Cook, and added free-agent guard/tackle Daniel Loper in free agency.

One other visit note, the Lions hosted former Michigan tight end Carson Butler recently after tight ends coach Tim Lappano ran Butler's pro-day workout at Michigan last month. Butler is projected as a late-round pick or priority free-agent signing.

Once a week during the offseason I'll try to answer your burning Lions questions.

Do the Lions really want to re-sign center Dominic Raiola?
It sure appears that way. I don't know that it's top priority in mid-February with free agency two weeks ago and draft preparation ongoing, but president Tom Lewand indicated at the team's town-hall meeting last month that extending Raiola's current contract is a priority. The full quote:

“I think (having about $35-million in cap space) enables us to do the kinds of things we're going to want to do from a personnel standpoint both in free agency and in the draft. Obviously with the No. 1 pick and two No. 1s, five in the top 80-plus, we've got to have that flexibility. But I also think it's important when you start talking about the guys that are currently on our roster, whether they're going to be free agents like the guys coming up this year like a Jason Hanson or guys who are in the last year of their contracts like a Dominic Raiola. Part of what we want to do as we're looking at building this the right way and for the long term is keeping those guys who are our own players, who've had success. Ideally we've drafted them and they've grown up within the system and they can kind of be the cornerstones of our team as opposed to trying to get enamored by the potential quick fixes that are out there.”

Raiola will be a free agent next February. I know he catches plenty of flack from fans and didn't help himself with his one-finger salute last year, but he was a Pro Bowl alternate two years ago and he did start 104 straight games before his November thumb injury. He's worth keeping around (though a poor 2009 or the drafting of someone like Cal's Alex Mack could change that).

What are the chances the Lions re-sign Leigh Bodden as a free agent?
I'd say slim to none are about right. You never want to rule anything out, but the sides are ready to part ways. Bodden wasn't happy with the way he was treated in Detroit and he'll find suitors on the open market. And the Lions, no doubt, have their sights set on other free agents.

The one thing I do find curious, general manager Martin Mayhew said Thursday that Bodden's release was “100 percent” cap related. If that's the case, then Lewand or someone should have to answer for the contract that put the Lions in the situation of cutting their best (albeit disgruntled) cornerback. Bodden signed an extension last summer after his trade from Cleveland that called for a whopping $8.6-million bonus to be due later this month. Sure he underperformed last year, but if Mayhew is to be believed the Lions would have kept Bodden of not for that lump-sum payment. And now, they have one more hole to fill.

I've written this already, but here's Mayhew's response when I asked him, in light of his comments, if he regretted how the Lions structured Bodden's contract: “There's a lot that went into that deal and what a lot of people don't know is Leigh wasn't really happy with his contract in Cleveland when he got here. And so we restructured it, and who knows what would have happened if we hadn't done it. So I'm happy that we did it, happy that we know kind of where we are with him and there's some good players out there who can play that position.”

What, if any, other changes to the front office are coming?
OK, so this is slimmed-down version of the three-part question I got from Myth. I think the Lions are pretty happy with the way things are structured now. They obviously don't believe the problems that led to last year's 0-16 season were systemic. Mayhew, Lewand, most of the scouting department and several assistant coaches all kept their jobs. A scout or two still could be let go after the draft, but I haven't had any indication that will happen.

I think Mayhew with Shack Harris as his sounding board is a nice 1-2 punch up top. As for Cedric Saunders, there were rumblings he was headed back to Tampa Bay to join the front office down there before the Lions extended his deal. He won't be an NFL general manager next year, but he's well thought of in Detroit (and elsewhere) and on track to be a player in personnel decisions for some organization in the near future.

Are the Lions interested in Derek Anderson?
You could insert Chris Simms or Byron Leftwich or a number of other free-agents for Anderson, but regardless my answer is the same: Ask me again after the combine. First order of business for the Lions is figuring out what they're going to do with their own quarterback situation. I don't believe anything's been decided there, though my best guess at this point remains they bring back Daunte Culpepper, release (or trade) Jon Kitna, don't re-sign Dan Orlovsky and draft a quarterback high in April's draft, with Culpepper playing the bridge to the future.

The Lions are in the market for starters at both guard positions and there doesn't appear to be much help in the draft – at least not in the traditional sense.

NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock, on a conference call today, said “the guard group” in this year's draft “is poor in comparison to the last few years,” but a strong center class could provide several starters at the interior line positions.

“I like the centers in this year's draft, I'm not as sold on the guards,” Mayock said. “The whole key to being an interior offensive linemen is being able to play all three of those positions and the centers this year, Max Unger, Eric Wood, Alex Mack, those top three centers I believe can play all three of those positions and Unger and Wood might even be able to play right tackle. The more you can do from a diversified perspective as an interior offensive linemen the more value you have and Unger, Wood and Mack all fit into that play-all-three-positions mold.”

The Lions released left guard Edwin Mulitalo on Monday, and right guard Stephen Peterman is slated to become a free agent later this month. Manny Ramirez, a little-used fourth-round pick in 2007, and Junius Coston, who was signed late last year and did not see game action, are the only guards on the roster.

Unger, Wood and Mack are potential targets should the Lions consider drafting an interior lineman in the second or third rounds. All three stand at least 6-foot-3 and weigh more than 300 pounds, and would seem to fit the organization's desire to get bigger and more physical up front. Lions president Tom Lewand indicated at a town-hall meeting last month the team would like to sign center Dominic Raiola to an extension. Raiola will be a free agent in 2010. Drafting Unger, Wood or Mack would provide insurance if that doesn't happen.

Mayock ranks Oregon State's Andy Levitre and Oklahoma's Duke Robinson as the top-rated pure guards.

Other notes

• Asked to project the top three picks in the draft as of today, Mayock guessed the Lions would take Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford first overall. “If I'm building a franchise the first thing I'd do is underwrite the quarterback position,” he said. He has Baylor tackle Jason Smith going No. 2 to St. Louis and Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry at No. 3 to Kansas City.

• According to a Rivals.com report, the Lions have hired Tim Lappano, the former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Washington, as their tight-ends coach. Lappano was an assistant coach for three seasons at Idaho (1983-85) when new Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan played for the Vandals.