Detroit Lions to sign former Packers QB Tim Boyle

Just a few minutes after the Detroit Lions dropped a Matthew Stafford farewell video that will absolutely wreck you, news dropped that there’s a new quarterback in town. No, not Jared Goff (yet). As first reported by NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Lions are signing former Green Bay Packers backup quarterback Tim Boyle. His Garafolo’s colleague, Tom Pelissero has the details: one-year, $2.5 million.

Boyle went undrafted in 2018 out of UConn and Eastern Kentucky. However, he made such a positive impression in Packers training camp that he made the 53-man roster his rookie year, and he ended up holding onto that backup job for the following two seasons, even after the team drafted Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

During that time, however, Boyle never saw the field for any significant time. He’s thrown just four career passes.

Boyle will come in and immediately compete for the backup job with David Blough. While this gives the Lions some much-needed competition, it doesn’t impact how they may approach the upcoming NFL Draft in April. Lions general manager Brad Holmes said on a recent podcast that they are not excluding quarterback from their options with the seventh overall pick.

“Oh no. No. Absolutely not,” Holmes said. “I don’t think when you’re picking this high that you can be out on any position. But obviously, quarterback is such an important position. I just think it’s good drafting business always to be very, very thorough on that quarterback class regardless of what your situation is. When I was with the Rams, (we) always said that regardless of what you had at quarterback—and even especially now—it’s the same approach.”