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As the Detroit Lions look to reshape their quarterback depth chart in the offseason, here are three free agent signal callers they could consider.
With two first-round picks in April, and what’s on track to be an early second-round pick, it feels like a lock the Detroit Lions will come out of the early portion of the 2022 NFL Draft with a quarterback.
But it’s not out of the question for general manager Brad Holmes to wait longer to take a quarterback, or punt on taking one completely in 2022 with an eye on what could be a better class of signal callers in the 2023 draft.
Via the contract restructure they did after acquiring him from the Rams, the Lions married themselves to Jared Goff next season. Even a post-June 1 cut would leave behind $20.5 million in dead money for 2022, and a trade isn’t a lot better.
That said, the Lions could sign a cheaper veteran who can push Goff for the starting job. That makes an assumption they won’t draft a quarterback within their first three picks in April. Or if they do, said rookie will not be thrown into the fire or allowed to compete immediately with Goff himself.
With their two current backups (Tim Boyle, David Blough) sure to be gone, the Lions will probably sign some level of veteran free agent quarterback whether they draft one or not. But the premise here is adding legit competition for Goff.