4. QB Hendon Hooker
For much of last offseason, the Lions made it clear Hooker had a lot of work to do. The fact he couldn't immediately overtake Nate Sudfeld for the No. 2 spot on the depth chart behind Jared Goff stood as a red flag, until Sudfeld proved himself to be so bad he couldn't be kept.
The Lions reportedly had some interest in Daniel Jones after the Giants let him go, and after that Teddy Bridgewater came out of retirement to join the team. Dan Campbell lauded the "different world" the team was about to go into (the playoffs), which Bridgewater's one career playoff start would apparently be helpful to navigating compared to Hooker's inexperience. Then Bridgewater was elevated over Hooker for the playoff game against Washington, leaving Hooker as the emergency No. 3 quarterback.
The bottom lines with Hooker are these. He just turned 27 (Jan. 13), and he has now burned two years of his four-year rookie contract. Goff is under contract through 2028, so barring a very significant injury to him Hooker has no path to starting in Detroit before his rookie contract expires.
The tea leaves say the Lions will try to replace Hooker as Goff's backup this offseason. If he's not going to be locked in as the primary backup, in his third season, then they should trade him.
Hooker might have been a first-round pick if not for a torn ACL late in his final college season. So he seems like a very tradeable asset, and any teams who are looking to turn over whatever stones they can for an answer under center should be interested. Teams who also liked him entering the 2023 draft would be a good starting point.
3. CB Emmanuel Moseley
The Lions first signed Moseley in 2023 free agency, when he was coming of a torn ACL. He had a setback in his recovery that summer, then he tore his other ACL two snaps into his Lions' debut in Week 5 of the 2023 season. Still, the Lions brought him back on another one-year deal last March.
During joint practices against the New York Giants in August, Moseley suffered a torn pectoral. He made his season debut in Week 12, playing 15 special teams snaps. Then an injury during pregame warmups before the Thanksgiving game led to him missing that game, and he was a healthy scratch for the next two games.
After Campbell seemed to hint at him having a larger defensive role, Moseley again strictly played special teams in Week 16 (14 snaps). Then he didn't play at all in Week 17, and before the regular season finale he landed on the NFI (Non-Football Illness) list, which ended his season barring the Lions making a very deep playoff run.
Moseley has had some horrible injury luck lately, which led to him being rendered a non-entity even when he was briefly healthy this year. The Lions will not sign him a third time.