ALLEN PARK -- After cutting Hendon Hooker, the Detroit Lions enter the regular season with only two quarterbacks on the roster.
It’s Jared Goff and Kyle Allen, with no third quarterback on the practice squad for a team that highly values the emergency-third-quarterback rule.
The Lions kicked the tires on two options on Wednesday, though, hosting quarterbacks C.J. Beathard and Nathan Peterman for tryouts. News of these tryouts comes just a couple of days after Lions coach Dan Campbell was asked what he was looking for in a potential third quarterback.
“I would say that we’re looking for somebody that if we need them, we know they can run the show, that they can run the offense, they can process the information,” Campbell said. “I think (it’s) more than, can we find a guy to develop that’s unknown, all of those.
“I’d rather have somebody that certainly if we’re familiar with or somebody you just know (if) they get in the game, they’re going to get you in the right play, be smart with the football and all those things.”
Beathard, the former Iowa starting quarterback, was a third-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2017. He’s appeared in 32 games, making 13 starts since then. Beathard has not appeared in a game since 2023 while with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The 31-year-old has completed 340 passes on 563 career attempts for 3,886 yards with 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He has started only three games since 2020, seeing the most work of his career during his first two years in San Francisco.
Peterman has appeared in 15 games with five career starts since landing with the Buffalo Bills as a fifth-rounder in 2017. He has a tough touchdown-to-interception ratio, with four scores to 13 picks in those appearances. Peterman also has not appeared in a game since 2023.
The Lions also hosted wide receivers Malik Cunningham, Jerjuan Newtown and Kendric Pryor for tryouts, too, per the NFL’s transaction wire.
Cunningham was a quarterback during his college days at Louisville and during his stint with the New England Patriots. He transitioned from quarterback to receiver while with the Baltimore Ravens in 2024.
Newtown went undrafted after six years at Toledo. He caught 72 passes for 1,048 yards and 11 touchdowns last season in the Mid-American Conference. Newton was cut ahead of the roster deadline after spending the offseason and training camp with the Denver Broncos.
Pryor, the former Wisconsin receiver, has had stints with the Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars since going undrafted in 2022.
The Lions have five receivers on their roster, with Jackson Meeks, Tom Kennedy and Ronnie Bell on the practice squad. Isaac TeSlaa has been dealing with an illness this week, but Campbell expects the rookie receiver to be fine moving forward.
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