3 players the Detroit Lions should not extend during 2022 offseason
1. QB Jared Goff
Just because it’s obvious doesn’t mean it’s not true. Holmes, the former Los Angeles Rams’ director of college scouting, went 2-for-2 last offseason in marrying the Lions for multiple years to former Rams when he acquired Goff in the Matthew Stafford trade. It’s no coincidence they both made this list.
While it was done with creating cap space in 2021’s reduced cap year in mind, Goff’s contract restructure also effectively attached Detroit to him through the 2022 season. Apparently taking on the ill-advised four-year extension the Rams signed him to just as it was starting, albeit while acquiring a 2022 first-round pick for that trouble, wasn’t quite enough for Holmes. So he doubled-down with a contract restructuring.
It becomes far easier to part ways with Goff in the 2023 offseason, and by that point he’s hardly guaranteed to be the Lions’ starting quarterback anyway. April’s draft may yield a potential replacement, and if not then it’s a practical guarantee the Lions take a quarterback in the 2023 draft.
Extending Goff beyond the end of his current deal (2024) is surely not anywhere on the Lions’ radar for the offseason, even if it would mean reducing his upcoming $30-plus million cap hits. But just in case the idea has entered Holmes’ mind, since he once said he doesn’t consider Goff to be a “bridge quarterback”, it’s worth mentioning here.
