CBS Sports projects Lions to draft quarterback as position carousel spins

As the NFL offseason quarterback carousel gets set to spin, CBS Sports projects the Detroit Lions to draft a signal caller for the future in a certain scenario.

As the new NFL league year approaches, we alll await word on what Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers decides. If he retires or is traded, the NFC North would become wide open–yes, even for the Detroit Lions.

There some big dominoes in the quarterback market this offseason, with Rodgers and Russell Wilson atop the list. Carson Wentz, Jimmy Garoppolo and Kirk Cousins could land with different teams.

With the caveat that Rodgers stays with the Packers and Wilson stays with the Seahawks, Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports projected 13 other quarterback moves around the NFL. He touched all the bases–trades, free agency and the draft.

CBS Sports projects Lions to draft a quarterback if carousel spins without Rodgers and Wilson

Malik Willis may be the only quarterback worth the Lions’ attention with their second first-round pick, based purely on upside. But there’s another signal caller with nice upside in this draft that may be in that conversation for Detroit, or if not there possibly at the No. 34 pick early in the second round.

That’s who Benjamin projects the Lions to end up with if the quarterback carousel doesn’t include Rodgers and Wilson.

"Desmond Ridder to the LionsUnless the Lions plan to eat $20 million to save a few million by designating Jared Goff as a post-June 1 cut, the ex-Rams starter will probably stick around for one more year as a placeholder. But they could afford to get somebody into the QB room as a longer-term option, and Ridder makes sense as a late Day One or Day Two target."

The Lions have Jared Goff to keep the starting quarterback seat warm next season. But after that, with little in cap implications to cut him loose in 2023, all bets are off.

Ridder was a winner at Cincinnati, with success in deeper metrics (against the blitz, production against top-end defenses when he faced them) that lays aside some of the questions about him. A portion of Lions’ fans wouldn’t be thrilled to have him, but the former Bearcat certainly has a segment of analysts that like him.