Just months after signing Jim Caldwell to a contract extension, it looks like the Lions are already planning to get rid of him. 

According to NFL.com, the Lions are expected to fire Caldwell at some point after the team's regular-season finale against the Packers on Sunday. If the Lions beat the Packers, it means the team will have dumped him after he put together three winning seasons in four years, something that no coach in Detroit had done since Wayne Fontes (1993-96). 

Despite leading the Lions to the playoffs in 2016, Caldwell's status with the team has been somewhat of a mystery over the past 12 months. After the Lions collapsed down the stretch in 2016 by losing their final three regular-season games, there was some belief that the team might not want him back. However, the Lions shut down that talk in early January when they announced that he would be returning for the 2017 season. 

Things got even weirder in September when it was reported that Caldwell signed an extension with the team. The weird part is that Caldwell reportedly signed the deal at some point in the spring, but the Lions decided to keep it a secret for several months. 

When you sign an extension, you expect to get some job security, but that wasn't the case with Caldwell. The extension was actually only a one-year deal with a team option for a second year, meaning if the Lions fire him on Sunday, they'll only owe him for the 2018 season. 

The decision to fire Caldwell will be made by Lions general manager Bob Quinn, and not surprisingly, Quinn already has at least one name he's targeting to fill Caldwell's spot. The former Patriots executive, who worked in the team's front office from 2009-15, will go after New England defensive coordinator Matt Patricia to fill the Lions' soon-to-be vacancy, according to NFL.com. 

If Caldwell is fired, he probably won't have a difficult time finding another job. The 62-year-old has been to the playoffs four times in seven seasons as an NFL coach. In four years with the Lions, Caldwell has put together a 35-28 record (.556), which gives him the highest winning percentage of any Lions coach since Buddy Parker coached the team from 1951-56 (not counting interim coaches). 

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