Could Ryan Grant be looking for holes to run through with the Lions? Raymond T. Rivard photograph

With the news that Jahvid Best, the Detroit Lions’ best bet for starting back, will not be uniform for the start of the 2012 regular season – he’s been relegated to the physically unable to perform list – is there a former Packer in the team’s future?

Throw in the fact that behind Best for the Lions are perpetual underachiever Kevin Smith and bad boy Mikel Leshoure and one might think that Ryan Grant might be a possibility.

You might remember that Grant had a visit to Detroit embedded into his GPS in May, but that trip was cancelled for inexplicable reasons. At the time, many thought it was because they believed he was headed back to Green Bay.

That didn’t happen either.

Instead, the Packers decided to go with two backs returning from serious knee injuries – Alex Green and James Starks, as well as second-year man Brandon Saine and rookie undrafted free agent Marc Tyler.

That was all well and good until the wheels in Green Bay started falling off. Saine went down to injury, Green wasn’t quite 100 percent and Starks hasn’t been all the Packers want. In their first preseason game, Tyler looked pretty good, but his stock dropped when he fumbled on the Packers’ final possession as they were attempting to score as the clock was winding down.

Immediately, the thought turned to Grant – he’s the back who knows the system and would be the perfect fit.

But not for Ted Thompson. Instead he went out and got Cedric Benson for a song, clearly looking to move in an entirely new direct, left Grant without a team.

Enter the Lions who have as bad of a situation in their backfield as the Packers. A logical choice for Detroit would be Grant, but no move has been made in that direction.

Could it still happen? Sure. There’s plenty of time to get him into camp and acclimated to their system. Obviously, that wouldn’t be something Packers fans would like to see.

But I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

Oct 16, 2011; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions running back Jahvid Best (44) looks for running room in the third quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber- US PRESSWIRE

If it’s true, the Detroit Lions may have suffered a huge blow to its potent offense as Jahvid Best, the Lions’ first round draft pick in 2010, may have played his final game.

As reported by Sports-Kings today, Best, who has a long history of concussions, including two in his first two pro seasons, won’t be back with the Lions and may never play football again.

He left the week six game against the San Francisco 49ers (a loss at home) and was out for the remainder of the year. Though the LIons’ offense exploded via the arm of Matthew Stafford and the pass-catching of all-world wide receiver Calvin Johnson, the running game is an important part of the Lions’ offense and losing Best does not bode well for Detroit.