5 quarterbacks Detroit Lions should target in free agency to backup Jared Goff

The Detroit Lions are placing some priority on their backup quarterback situation, and these five free agents should be firmly on the radar.

When Jared Goff missed time in 2021, the Detroit Lions had no chance to win the three games he missed. No need to rehash the Tim Boyle experience, but credit to him for continuing to draw an NFL paycheck when there are spring football leagues to play in.

Goff stayed healthy last season, so backup Nate Sudfeld played just nine mop-up snaps all season. After the season, with no offense meant to Sudfeld, Lions general manager Brad Holmes pointed to a priority that will be placed on the No. 2 quarterback spot.

Via SI.com:

"Going into this past year, yeah, we went down to the umpteenth hour trying to figure out what we were gonna do at number two,” Holmes said. “I’ve let it be known internally that we’re not gonna be in that position again heading into this year, so we have to get that settled. I thought Nate Sudfeld did a nice job with us, so we’ll figure that out. But, I am gonna make it a point of emphasis and make sure that, being that we’re finally in a position to address that quarterback room behind Jared, we have been in that position in the past. But, we’re gonna make that a point of emphasis this year.”"

Off of going 9-8 in 2022, expectations are ramping up for the Lions heading toward next season. Losing Goff to an injury would obviously not be ideal, but it also can’t completely derail a promising season based purely on the failure to have a more capable backup in place.

As Holmes and the Lions front office look at the free agent market for backup quarterback options, these five should be firmly on the radar.

5 backup quarterback options the Detroit Lions should target in free agency

5. Gardner Minshew

Peak “Minshew Mania” from his days with the Jacksonville Jaguars is long gone now. But Minshew remains a capable quarterback, as he embarks on a career path which may parallel Ryan Fitzpatrick’s when it’s all said and done. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, especially from a career earnings standpoint, if Minshew can play in the league as long as Fitzpatrick did.

It’s easy to overlook, or just flat-out forget, how efficient Minshew was in his two years (23 games–20 starts) with the Jaguars (37 touchdowns, 11 interceptions). In four starts for the Philadelphia Eagles over the last two years, as Jalen Hurts’ backup, he was fine. Some good, some bad, but fine for the role.

Minshew is willing to cut it loose downfield, he’s got some mobility and he plays with a reckless abandon straddling good and bad much of the time (just like Fitzpatrick). He’s still got some honing to do on the finer points of quarterback play. But from a pure “keep things interesting if he has to play” standpoint, Minshew is an absolutely ideal backup quarterback.

And at 27 years old in May, Minshew could stick around in Detroit for a few years if they want him as the backup to whoever the starter is in 2023, 2024…

4. Andy Dalton

Dalton started 14 games for the New Orleans Saints last season, and he played solidly (66.7 percent completion rate, 18 touchdowns, nine interceptions, 95.2 passer rating). He’s of course got ample starting experience, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals, with some playoff starts on his resume too. He has never started less than six games in a season during his career, even when he’s been brought in to be a backup since his time in Cincinnati ended.

Dalton has become a bit of a journeyman in recent years, playing for the Dallas Cowboys (2020), Chicago Bears (2021) and the Saints the last three seasons. What he finds on the open market  this offseason could range from a bridge starter to being brought in as a veteran backup with no chance to compete to start during training camp.

Experienced, capable and (at least theoretically) willing to accept a role other than atop the depth chart, Dalton’s picture may as well be next to the dictionary definition of “ideal backup quarterback”. The current Lions’ offense has shades of the Bengals’ offense when Dalton was a younger quarterback too, and that offense raised him to a level beyond his raw talent.

In a certain light, there wouldn’t be much drop-off from Goff to Dalton if the circumstance dictated it for the Lions.

3. Cooper Rush

When Dak Precott missed time last season due to a thumb injury, Rush went 4-1 as the Cowboys’ starter. His numbers weren’t earth-shattering over that stretch (956 yards, five touchdowns, three interceptions, 81.2 passer rating, 58 percent completion rate). But he did what a backup is supposed to do–keep things on the rails for a team with high expectations.

In his first four starts last season, before a rough outing against the eventiual NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, Rush had zero interceptions, a 97.1 passer ratingand a 61.9 percent completion rate). In a spot start for Prescott during the 2021 season against the Minnesota Vikings, he threw for 325 yards.

It’s fair to assume the Cowboys will make an effort to re-sign Rush, and keep their solid backup situation intact. He won’t get a starting job anywhere, but he would being doing himself a favor to take himself to the open market and see what’s out there.

For whatever it might be worth, Rush is a Michigan native (Charlotte) and a Central Michigan alum. Maybe he’d like to continue his career back home if there’s a chance to.

2. Taylor Heinicke

Washington tried to replace Heinicke with Carson Wentz last offseason, and that went about as expected for those who have never felt Wentz is that good a quarterback. Heinicke wound up starting nine games around Wentz’s missed time due to an injury, before Sam Howell started Week 18.

The Commanders haven’t shut the door on re-signing Heinicke, however expected that sentiment is without fully knowing all their options. But as things stand right now, failing a bolder move this offseason, they’re preparing to have second-year man Howell as their starting quarterback next season.

Heinicke also may not want to come back to Washington, as long as he finds a market for his services elsewhere. In a broad sense, he shouldn’t have much trouble finding a new team. And failing being a starter, which is unlikely to happen as he enters free agency, he openly acknowledged how nice a gig being a backup quarterback can be.

If he’s thrust into the starting job, Heinicke is the kind of quarterback a team will always be trying to replace with a better option. His career highlight may always be playing well against Tom Brady and the eventual Super Bowl champion Buccaneers in a Wild Card Game.

But as options to backup Jared Goff go, the Lions should have Heinicke prominently on their radar.

1. Jacoby Brissett

I’ve long been a Brissett truther. He was thrust into tough situations twice with the Indianapolis Colts. He was acquired late in the 2017 preseason, then Andrew Luck missed the whole season i. Then Luck suddenly retired in August of 2019, putting Brissett in the starting role on short notice. His splits before and after a knee injury during that 2019 season were drastic (he only missed one game).

Frankly, we had really never seen what Brissett could do with opportunity, better talent around him and fully healthy for a significant stretch.

Until last season, that is. Brissett held down the fort for the Cleveland Browns while Deshaun Watson served a suspension. His raw numbers weren’t phenomenal, as wasn’t his win-loss record as the starter (4-7), but he did set career-bests for passer rating (88.1) and completion rate (64 percent).

Pro Football Focus was high on Brissett’s work in place of Watson though, as they’ve tabbed him as an underrated free agent.

"Brissett was probably better than even the Browns expected him to be in relief of the suspended Deshaun Watson across his 12 starts, finishing the season with the sixth-highest PFF overall grade and the 13th-highest PFF passing grade among quarterbacks. Brissett might not be the quarterback to lead a team to the Super Bowl, but he is a perfect bridge signal-caller for quarterback-needy teams in 2023."

Brissett may be able to find a job as a bridge starter somewhere, as PFF suggested, and if so the Lions would fall by the wayside automatically with only a backup role to offer. But it makes sense to have him on the radar until they’re ruled out of the market for his services, if they are.