Entering the offseason, the Detroit Lions are in a good place in relation to the salary cap. They're in such a good place that it's hard to find obvious cut candidates, and they don't really have to do anything there in the name of creating more cap space.
The Lions invited questions about Hendon Hooker when they brought Teddy Bridgewater back late this season. Then Bridgewater was the No. 2 quarterback behind Jared Goff for the playoff game against the Washington Commanders, with Hooker as the emergency No. 3.
After spending his 2023 rookie season mostly working his way back from the torn ACL he suffered late in his final college season, Hooker took a little too long to full assert himself as the primary backup to Goff over Nate Sudfeld last preseason.
Before Bridgewater was signed, the Lions reportedly had some interest in Daniel Jones after he was released by the New York Giants. That said something about the internal faith that Hooker could step in if something happened to Goff, even though Dan Campbell mostly shrugged off the idea of Jones.
NFL analyst suggests Lions could cut Hendon Hooker
ESPN's Bill Barnwell took a look at potential roster turnover for the 14 eliminated playoff teams via free agency and potential cut candidates. Hooker was his cut candidate for the Lions.
"The Lions don't have anybody playing meaningful snaps who sticks out as a likely cap casualty. One potential candidate is the 27-year-old Hooker, who has thrown nine passes in two years. It seems telling that the Lions signed a quasi-retired Bridgewater at the end of the season and quickly pushed him ahead of Hooker on the depth chart, a move which ended up mattering when Jared Goff briefly left the playoff loss to the Commanders."
Barnwell finished his thoughts with the obvious overall point about Hooker and his future with the Lions.
"Hooker is owed only $1.3 million in unguaranteed money in 2025, but he's too inexperienced to be a reliable backup and too old to be a quarterback of the future, especially after Goff signed an extension last May."
Hooker is halfway through his four-year rookie contract, and he turned 27 earlier this month (Jan. 13). For an age comparison, Lamar Jackson turned 28 on Jan. 7 and he just completed his seventh NFL season. Goff is also under contract for four more years via the extension he signed last offseason.
Shy of a career-threatening significant injury to Goff, Hooker has no path to being the starting quarterback for the Lions. Drafting him in the third round (No. 68 overall) of the 2023 draft, coming off an injury and being an older prospect, is easy to question in hindsight.
The Lions would not even recapture all of Hooker's $1.55 million cap hit for 2025 by cutting him. So that would be an inconsequential move.
However, Hooker is a potential tradeable asset on a roster that's not exactly flush with them. A Day 3 draft pick would be the going rate, surely with conditions placed on said pick (making the 53-man roster, playing time, etc.).
If he's not more or less locked in as the No. 2 quarterback looking toward next season, and they have been telling us he won't be, it doesn't make much sense for the Lions to keep Hooker. Sure, there isn't much difference between getting a conditional sixth or seventh-round pick in a trade and getting nothing by cutting him. But getting something for a player you no longer have use for is always better than getting nothing, and Barnwell missed that idea regarding Hooker.