An AFC team has two options who could rectify Lions' backup QB issue

What was once only a lurking problem now is a full-blown issue for the Detroit Lions. In the battle for the backup quarterback job, Nate Sudfeld was awful in the preseason opener against the New York Giants. Hendon Hooker is in concussion protocol after flashing his potential during the game.

Before the team returned to the practice field on Sunday, head coach Dan Campbell acknowledged the uncertainty about Hooker and the idea the Lions will look to add another quarterback.

"He's not gonna be out there today, we probably won't have him tomorrow. And so it's looking less like we will have him in practice this week until Friday getting ready for the Chiefs. And that's not a guarantee until he obviously clears the concussion protocol, and we're on a hold with him, so that'll kind of play itself out."

"Brad (Holmes) and I talked about that this morning, that could come down the wire, you know, today or tomorrow." Campbell said. "There is a chance, you know, I think we'll, we'll have a pretty good idea this afternoon as to do we need to go ahead and do that, just to make sure we've got a guy other than Nate, you know, for the game."

Campbell was unsure if starters will play in the second preseason game against the Chiefs. Jared Goff will not play a whole lot if he does play though, and the Lions will need another quarterback besides Sudfeld to get through the game. Hooker is highly questionable until further notice.

An AFC team has two options to help Lions' quarterback problem

In some sense, the Lions should have already been on the lookout for a backup quarterback. But while they have questions marks behind Goff, performance or injury-related as we speak, there's a team out there who seems to have a surplus of viable backup quarterbacks.

The Cleveland Browns, for better or worse, have Deshaun Watson as their starting quarterback. Behind him, Jameis Winston looks like the front runner to beat out Dorian Thompson-Robinson for the No. 2 spot on the depth chart.

Thompson-Robinson had a nice showing in Cleveland's preseason opener against the Green Packers on Saturday, completing 14 of 18 pass attempts for 134 yards (7.4 yards per attempt). That seems to be set to make him a hot trade commodity for teams who need a backup quarterback. Thompson-Robinson made three starts and appeared in eight games for the Browns as a rookie last year, so he's already got more regular season experience than Sudfeld.

Beyond Thompson-Robinson, the Browns also have Tyler Huntley. The former Baltimore Raven has nine regular season starts on his resume over four seasons, and he also started a playoff game in 2022 when Lamar Jackson was out.

With the idea the Browns may prefer to keep the younger Thompson-Robinson around, and the Lions would be too low in waiver wire priority to get Huntley if he was let go, Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports has quickly cooked up a trade proposal to bring Huntley to Detroit.

Lions get: Tyler Huntley and 2025 seventh-round pick
Browns get: James Houston and a 2025 sixth-round pick

Trading Houston would be a buzz-kill for a lot of Lions' fans, but when it comes to trying to add a viable backup quarterback nothing should be out of the question. The Browns have a couple options that should have Brad Holmes' attention, if they weren't already on his radar.