As of right now, the only quarterback under contract for the Detroit Lions next season is Matthew Stafford. Backups Shaun Hill and Drew Stanton are both set to become free agents. Although the Lions have expressed their desire to bring both Hill and Stanton back next season, no new deals have been worked out just yet.
While Stanton wants to see if any opportunities arise that would give him more of a chance to play, Hill has already made it known he'd like to return to Detroit. The expectation is for him to re-sign at some point, but Dave Birkett reports that it appears Hill will hit the open market first.
As of now, it sounds like backup Lions QB Shaun Hill will hit the market when free agency opens tomorrow. Lions still in it though.
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) March 13, 2012
Hill will likely draw interest from teams who are looking for a solid backup. While he could receive an offer from a team that doesn't currently have an established starter, let's not forget what he said a couple months ago:
"If there is a situation and a possibility to start somewhere then I would certainly have to look heavily into it," he said. "But it’s not worth it to me to go start somewhere and be unhappy. I’ve been through it and I’m not going to do it again." [...]
"It’s actually one of the nice things about here. If it’s going to be a backup job somewhere, I don’t think there will be any other organization that is as close to winning it all and I highly doubt it’ll be a situation where I enjoy the work environment as much as I do here."
There will likely be several players the Lions want to bring back who will hit the open market on Tuesday. Chances are many of them, including Hill, will ultimately be re-signed.