The Detroit Lions have done everything publicly to back Jared Goff as their quarterback, but they have not closed the door on taking his replacement with one of their two first-round picks.
The Lions, who pick sixth and 18th in the first round, will host Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud on a pre-draft visit this week, NFL Network reported.
Stroud is widely considered one of the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft and a candidate to go No. 1 overall to the Carolina Panthers. He visited the Las Vegas Raiders, who pick No. 7, on Tuesday, and has visits scheduled with the Panthers and Indianapolis Colts (No. 4), among others, according to NFL Network.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes has bristled this offseason at questions about drafting Goff’s replacement, though neither he nor Lions coach Dan Campbell has ruled out that possibility.
Along with Stroud, who led the Buckeyes to the national championship game last season, the Lions have a pre-draft visit planned with Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker, projected as a late-first-round or early Day 2 pick, but could miss the start of this season after tearing his ACL last November.
Asked if there was anything contradictory about supporting Goff yet still considering quarterbacks in Round 1, Holmes said at the NFL spring meeting last month he has been transparent with Goff about his plans.
MORE FROM BIRKETT: Risk before reward: Jeff Okudah departure shows there’s no sure things in NFL draft
“I communicated with Jared at the end of the season about, just like I told you guys at the combine, about, yeah, we got Jared, but we didn’t have anything else behind him so just letting him know that, ‘Look, man, we got to get some more behind you,'” Holmes said. “I think, yeah, we are in a unique position with all the picks that we have to add maybe a pretty talented guy if we go that direction, but again, it doesn’t have to be the first round, it doesn’t have to be the second round, it can be at any point.
“I just feel like we’re in a good place right now but we just kind of keep the communication open just so, as you’re saying, if Jared, we were to go that direction and add one, that he’s aware of exactly what we’re doing.”
The Lions have done work on quarterbacks in previous drafts. They hosted Kenny Pickett and Malik Willis on top-30 visits last spring, and coached Willis and Sam Howell at the Senior Bowl. In 2021, Holmes and Campbell attended Trey Lance’s pro day.
But the Lions appear more set at quarterback now than they did either of the past two offseasons, with Goff coming off one of his best seasons as a pro.
Goff, 28, led the Lions to a 9-8 record last season, completing 65% of his passes with 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He finished the season with 324 straight pass attempts without a pick.
Campbell intimated in an interview with CBS Sports at the combine that the Lions would be willing to take a quarterback at six, though they have not been as aggressive in evaluating the position as other quarterback-needy teams in the top 10. Holmes attended the pro day of only one top quarterback prospect, Alabama’s Bryce Young, and the Lions are not known to have conducted private workouts with Stroud, Young or other potential top-10 picks Anthony Richardson or Will Levis. Richardson is not currently scheduled to visit Detroit.
ARE YOU MOCKING ME? ESPN’s Mel Kiper has Lions landing Will Anderson, Bijan Robinson in new mock draft
Young is expected to be the first or second player off the board.
“What we were hopeful and thought we were going to get (in Goff) is a guy who, man, he’s our guy. He’s bought us time here. We believe we can win with Jared Goff,” Campbell told CBS Sports last month. “In the meantime, we also know he’s not going to be here for the next 10 years. I mean, he’s not — it’s not like Jared Goff’s a rookie, so certainly our eyes are on, man, potentially a quarterback. And the question is, where do you acquire that at? And that’s something that Brad and I kick around all the time, but we don’t feel like we’re pressed right now. We don’t feel like we’re pressed. But that doesn’t mean our eyes aren’t on a quarterback.”
Goff has two years left on his current contract and could be in line for an extension worth north of $40 million annually.
The Lions re-signed Nate Sudfeld as their backup last month, and remain interested in bringing in Teddy Bridgewater as their No. 2 quarterback, though their plans could hinge on what happens in the draft.
“We’ve already done a lot of work, but again, like I talked about the process, we just kind of surrender the results to that, and we’re still going through the process, still more work to do,” Holmes said. “But we’ll make sure we’ll get to the point where we’ll make the best decision and add the best football player for us.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.