It’s hardly a great revelation, but Lions general manager Brad Holmes sees the value in drafting a quarterback to work behind Jared Goff next season.
Amid all the quarterback movement this offseason, the Detroit Lions were, as a practical matter, stuck with Jared Goff for the 2022 season. He played well late last season, but he’s not the quarterback of the future in Detroit. Perhaps unless you ask general manager Brad Holmes, who was the Rams’ director college scouting when they drafted Goff No. 1 overall in 2016.
From the league meetings on Tuesday, Holmes continued to express his faith in Goff when prompted.
*(We want) A starter that can be productive for us,” Holmes responded. “I think that’s what we have. Whatever the case is, Jared is our quarterback and we’re going to make sure he’s put in the best position to succeed and we’ll let the chips fall from there.”
Holmes engaged in general manager-speak , shaping his answers to express faith in Goff without pointing to him as the long-term guy when asked why the Lions weren’t in the mix for Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, etc. Bringing back Tim Boyle as the backup suggests Goff will not be at all challenged for the starting job this year.
Via Dave Birkett of The Detroit Free Press:
Well, Jared played good football for us late in the year. We have a lot of optimism about Jared going forward so we have a quarterback,” Holmes said. “If you’re asking why we did not kind of hop into that world, we’re happy with where Jared is at right now. We’re looking forward to him having a productive year for us.”
But, Brad Holmes sees value in having a young quarterback to learn behind Jared Goff
Via Justin Rogers of the Detroit News, Holmes opened up the possibility of drafting a quarterback to sit behind Goff in 2022.
Sure, I could see some advantage of there (being) a young quarterback that can learn under Jared,” Holmes said. “I don’t think Jared would have any issues taking on that role. He’s had more younger guys with less experience behind him, so he’d be very comfortable with that.”
The Lions have an easier path to move on from Goff after the 2022 season. Cutting him (or trading him) before June 1, 2023 only leaves behind $10 million in dead money, while clearing $20.65 million in cap space.
Shaping a future plan at the most important position on the field is an order for Holmes. Having a young signal caller on a rookie contract (and possibly with a fifth-year option as a first-round pick) would be ideal. If not at No. 2 overall, the final pick of the first round looks like a prime spot to draft a quarterback–Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder particularly comes to mind there.