5 Detroit Lions free agents who won’t be back in 2022

1. QB Tim Boyle/QB David Blough

I’m double-dipping on the Lions’ current backup quarterbacks, and counting them as one. Despite Jared Goff’s struggles, the last two games being better aside, what the team thinks of the rest of the depth chart has been shown clearly.

Blough only played a few snaps at the end of a Week 8 blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Boyle was so bad in a Week 11 start against the Cleveland Browns that Goff was started on Thanksgiving Day, at possibly less than 100 percent with an oblique issue.

The Lions feel like a lock to take a quarterback at some point in April’s draft. They could acquire a  veteran quarterback to fill out the depth chart, or more proactively push Goff for the starting job. Blough and Boyle are of the former ilk of course, and clearly not equipped to push Goff if the Lions want to go that way. A move to replace Goff with a veteran is also possible, if unlikely.

A broader question might be if Boyle and Blough ever take another NFL snap, as neither will see action again this season unless Goff is injured again. But if one or both do land on a roster for 2022, it will not be back with the Lions.