Jared Goff will be on the Lions’ roster through next season, but is he actually buying the team time on a future quarterback decision?
For a chunk of his first season with the team, it was a harsh reality the Detroit Lions were going to be stuck with Jared Goff at least through next season. A contract restructure upon getting him in the Matthew Stafford trade, in the interest of creating cap space in a cap-reduced year, makes moving on this offseason prohibitive (if not impossible).
But then Goff played well. Over his final five starts of the 2021 season, interrupted by COVID-19 and a knee injury that cost him one game apiece, he posted a 107.1 passer rating. The Lions also went 3-2 in those games.
At the Senior Bowl a couple weeks ago, Lions general manager Brad Holmes again stated the obvious about Goff having to prove himself. The Lions’ coaching staff led one of the teams down in Mobile, and among the quarterback prospects there they got the closest look at Malik Willis, Sam Howell and Bailey Zappe on the American team roster.
Is Jared Goff buying the Lions time on a quarterback decision?
From the Super Bowl site the day of the game, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero spoke about Goff and the Lions.
"Goff’s got a $15.5 million dollar fully-guaranteed roster bonus coming up next month, so barring something unseen, he’s going to be on the team,” “I spoke to GM Brad Holmes last week, he said Goff played well the second half of the season but he’s got to show up, prove it and compete in 2022. The Lions absolutely could add a quarterback, but having Goff affords them the ability to not chase a quarterback in the draft when the class isn’t regarded as that strong.”"
Goff’s play late in the season is a positive sign, especially as the Lions eye reinforcements to the weapons around him this offseason. He’s a quarterback that needs to be elevated by what’s around him, and that structure will only be better looking to next season.
With one of their two picks in a three-selection stretch late in the first round and early in the second round of April’s draft (No. 32 and No. 34), the Lions could be in position to take a quarterback. A move up from there, or even down from No. 2 overall, could be done with an eye on a quarterback.
Goff’s presence does allow the Lions to draft a quarterback who might not be ready to, or wouldn’t have to, start immediately. But he’s still not the long-term answer for them. If there’s an opportunity to draft someone this year who has franchise quarterback potential, it should not be turned down.