Dan Campbell keeping door open for Jared Goff as long-term Lions quarterback

It seems inevitable Jared Goff will be replaced as soon as possible, but Lions head coach Dan Campbell has left the door open to it not being such a lock.

Since he was acquired from the Los Angeles Rams in the Matthew Stafford trade last offseason, it’s really been a matter of when not if Jared Goff will be replaced as the Detroit Lions quarterback. Wherever a viable replacement would come from, Goff is pnly a bridge to that guy.

Early in the season, right to a Week 10 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers where he suffered an oblique injury and still wasn’t taken out, Goff did nothing to change the initial narrative. If the Lions had anyone better than Tim Boyle and David Blough, he may have been benched at some point. Boyle started in Week 11 against the Cleveland Browns when Goff was unable to play.

Dan Campbell leaves door open for Jared Goff as Lions QB of future

Before testing positive for COVID-19 and missing Week 16 against the Atlanta Falcons, Goff was the fourth-highest rated passer in the NFL over the previous four weeks. He has been cleared from the COVID list and is expected to play Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, as he’ll try to get back his previous good momentum.

During his regular appearance on 97.1 The Ticket Tuesday morning, Campbell didn’t rule out Goff being a part of the Lions’ future.

"I don’t see why not,” Campbell said. “Look, he’s playing pretty good ball, now. He’s coming off his best performance of the season. Unfortunately, he had COVID, and he kind of had the knee injury. So, he had to sit out last week. I feel like we’re starting to find our rhythm here, and we’re all starting to mesh collectively from a coaching staff, to the players, as well.”"

Via Kyle Meinke of MLive last week, Campbell cited how hard it’s been to fairly evaluate Goff based on what’s been (or not been) around him.

"I always felt like it’s hard to evaluate him until I feel like everything is right, to an extent, and then you can do a fair evaluation of where you think he is,” Campbell said. “So I feel like that’s come about over the last four weeks — three or four weeks. Now it’s starting to come into focus. I feel like there is a much clearer picture for a number of different reasons. I like where he’s trending right now. I like where he’s trending.”"

It’s always been inevitable Goff will be on the Lions’ roster in 2022 based on the contract resture that was done when he was acquired, even with the idea he’d possibly become an expensive backup during the season. But Campbell is not ruling out Goff as the long-term guy under center, and it’s worth noting Goff is only 27 years old.