Tragic Loss: Detroit lions QB has been suspended few minutes ago for violating NFL betting rules ESPN report….see more

With both backups entering free agency, what should be Detroit’s plan of action at quarterback this offseason?

For such a long time, the quarterback position wasn’t much of a question or concern for the Detroit Lions. Sure, there were plenty of backup quarterbacks along the way during Matthew Stafford’s tenure in Detroit, but there wasn’t much calculus to do because the starting position was always written in ink.

Now, the Lions are faced with making decisions at football’s premier position this offseason, and those decisions are going to impact the immediate direction and future of this franchise. It all depends on who they choose to bring into the quarterback room, and from those decisions, we’ll be able to glean where the Lions are headed in this rebuild.

Let’s get right into today’s Question of the Day…

What do you want the Lions to do at quarterback this offseason?

Just to get this out of the way, Jared Goff is almost guaranteed to be the team’s starter in 2022, regardless of what they do this offseason. After his encouraging play down the stretch in 2021, Goff has done enough to prove to Lions’ brass—and most fans—that he’s the guy for the time being. It’s hard to ignore the ugly way things started for Goff in his first season with Detroit, but like most industries, the NFL is a league of “what have you done for me lately?” and Goff certainly played better in his final four starts of the season.

However, the Lions have both of their backup quarterbacks entering free agency. Tim Boyle, the team’s No. 2 quarterback in 2021, is an unrestricted free agent, eligible to sign elsewhere at the start of the league’s new year on March 16. David Blough, the team’s third-string quarterback, is a restricted free agent meaning he’s free to sign with another team, but Detroit has the right to offer Blough one of the various qualifying offers (“tenders”) that come with the right of first refusal and/or draft-pick compensation.

Here’s where things get interesting for the Lions this offseason. Detroit has pressing decisions to make at quarterback this offseason and depending on the moves they make, it will inform us of the direction this team is headed.

Detroit could easily just run things back by re-signing Boyle, tendering or re-signing Blough, and bring themselves back to where they were a season ago. Many view Goff as a bridge quarterback to the next era of Detroit Lions football, so this would essentially amount to kicking the can down the road, waiting until next year’s offseason to make more drastic changes.

Is there the possibility that Detroit goes out and signs a quarterback at the start of free agency to push Goff for the starting job? It seems unlikely considering the initial move Detroit made to acquire Goff and the public support both Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes have expressed in him throughout last season.

It seems as though the most likely change Detroit makes at quarterback this offseason is through the draft, and it ranges anywhere from minor—replacing Blough with a developmental player on Day 3—to a major sign of what might come down the line if Detroit uses a first-round pick to draft an eventual successor to Goff.

What do you want the Lions to do this offseason with the quarterback position? Sound off in the comments.