Is cornerback Wayne Lyons possibly transferring to Michigan?

On National Signing Day, you're typically thinking about recruiting new players into the program - not keeping old ones around.

However, that appears to be the case for Stanford football, as 5th-year senior cornerback Wayne Lyons is reportedly considering transferring to Michigan.

In a press conference on Wednesday, David Shaw only had this to offer regarding the situation:

"For those guys going into their fifth year that want the opportunity to play someplace else,'' Shaw said, "I've never said no, never tried talk anybody out of it.''

Lyons was recruited by new Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh when he was at Stanford, but Harbaugh departed for the 49ers before Lyons came to the Farm.

Lyons has played in 43 games in his Stanford career, starting in 7 his senior year. After injuring his foot just two games into his freshman year, Lyons redshirted and was able to apply for a medical exemption to play a fifth year in college, which he received on January 15. It was assumed that Lyons would be staying on the Farm when he tweeted that he'd be staying in school, but his tweet regarding his choice to return to college is now much more cryptic thanks to these rumors:

I have decided to stay in school and take advantage of an opportunity to get better in my fifth year of eligibility! !

— Wayne Lyons (@wlyons21) January 15, 2015

Also consider this tweet from Do-Hyoung Park, The Stanford Daily's Managing Editor of Sports:

All this Wayne Lyons business... I've been hearing that it might be more than just rumors.

— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) February 6, 2015

Lyons was a highly regarded prospect coming out of high school - he was the 6th-best safety prospect in the nation - but his college career thus far has been more average than stellar. If this is indeed Lyons' final year at Stanford, perhaps he is looking for a starting opportunity after being forced to split time at cornerback this fall. Under first-year defensive backs coach Duane Akina, Lyons appeared to grow as a player, but some costly lapses may have forced Akina to restrict his playing time.

Stanford also added a recruiting class that touted four new defensive back prospects, some of whom would likely compete with Lyons for playing time this fall.