Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions.
Getty
Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions wrapped up their 2025-26 season with a win over the Bears. Now, the Lions are sharing news.
The Detroit Lions once had plans to develop a successor to quarterback Jared Goff, but could be backing off that idea after it fell apart and the heir apparent departed.
The Lions used a third-round pick on quarterback Hendon Hooker in 2023, using his rookie year to allow him to develop while rehabbing a torn ACL. Hooker failed to make significant strides in his development, leading the Lions to lure Teddy Bridgewater out of retirement the next year and later parting ways with Hooker.
SI.com insider Albert Breer believes the Lions won’t be looking for another developmental quarterback in the immediate future, leaving Goff to carry the flag alone for the foreseeable future.
In a mailbag column published this week, Breer was asked whether the Lions might consider drafting quarterback Drew Allar and allowing him to develop for a few years. Breer noted that the Lions don’t have enough draft assets to think about a new succession plan for Goff.
“Last year, the Lions traded both of their 2026 third-round picks in an aggressive move in last year’s third round to get receiver Isaac TeSlaa,” Breer wrote. “As a result of losing their slotted pick and the pick they got for losing Aaron Glenn to the Jets, they now have only two picks in the top 100. So taking a swing on a developmental quarterback seems way more likely on Day 3, where they have multiple picks in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds.”
Breer also added that the Lions have a top-heavy roster, which makes it even more difficult to think about adding a young quarterback to the mix.
“The Lions, for example, have work to do on the offensive line, a unit that was the foundation of the Brad Holmes/Dan Campbell rebuild,” Breer wrote. “With only those two picks in the top 100, and shrinking cap space, it’d stand to reason resources should go there, rather than to find a developmental quarterback. So if the swing on Drew Allar—who is probably an early Day 3 pick anyway—comes in the fourth or fifth round? Good. At 50th, I’d be surprised.”
Lions Standing Behind Jared Goff
The Lions have become much more solidly behind Goff in the years since drafting Hooker, giving him a four-year, $212 million extension in May 2024 that included $170 million in guaranteed money. There had been some question marks surrounding Goff when he came to Detroit in the 2021 blockbuster trade that sent Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams, but he has grown into a franchise quarterback while helping the Lions become Super Bowl contenders.
Though Goff has occasional struggles, the team stood solidly behind him, even as the Lions stumbled and missed the playoffs last season.
“Jared Goff is a stud,” head coach Dan Campbell said on 97.1 The Ticket in late December, via Nolan Bianchi of the Detroit News. “He played at a very high level all season long … even better than he played the year before … I’m thankful to have him, he’s an absolute stud, he’s a pro, he’s going nowhere.”