The Detroit Lions have seen things come into focus a bit for 2022 by virtue of their strong finish to the 2021 season, and one player who seems to have cemented his present and future is quarterback Jared Goff.
Goff has played well in leading the Lions to a couple of wins late in the season, and as a result, his future figures to be more secure in Detroit than it seemed before the middle of the season. That’s not exactly how one NFL analyst sees it, however.
Recently, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell put together an Insider piece which featured some potential quarterback dominos across the league this offseason. In a potential scenario where Aaron Rodgers was traded to Denver, San Francisco traded Jimmy Garoppolo to Carolina, the Panthers traded Sam Darnold to New Orleans and Ryan Fitzpatrick signed a one-year deal with Pittsburgh, the Lions were projected to cut Goff, who would then sign on as Joe Burrow’s backup in Cincinnati.
In terms of why, Barnwell offered that the Lions could use the over $10 million they would save on Goff elsewhere, especially given Dan Campbell had publicly pushed Goff to play better months ago. Additionally, Barnwell hypothesized the team would look to sign Teddy Bridgewater as a stop-gap for the future.