Mailbag: Ranking the Detroit Lions’ quarterback options for the future

With a week full of NFL quarterback news, the Detroit Lions’ situation at passer has come into focus yet again. Daniel Jones’ $40 million/year contract has set a baseline for what a Jared Goff extension may look like in 2024. Lamar Jackson’s non-exclusive franchise tagging has some Lions fans drooling at the rare opportunity of nabbing an elite quarterback in the early prime of their career. And coming fresh off the heels of an NFL Combine where the quarterbacks shined, another set of Lions fans are contemplating spending Detroit’s high draft resources on the best quarterback this draft class has to offer.

While it may not feel like it right now, the Lions are very close to a crossroads at quarterback. Goff’s contract is up in two years, and this offseason may present the best opportunity for the Lions to upgrade at the position. But as luck would have it, Goff is coming off his best performance in several years, including a 10-game stretch where he arguably played at a top-five level. You could make an easy argument he’s already earned an extension.

So on this week’s midweek mailbag podcast, we discussed three realistic options for the Lions’ quarterback situation that I outlined clearly on Twitter below. These are not the only options the Lions have, obviously, but perhaps three of the most intriguing options:

On this week’s Midweek Mailbag, myself and Erik Schlitt ranked our preferences for each of these outcomes and discussed the pros and cons of each possible path. That discussion kicks off the podcast.

Here are the other topics for this week:

• Do the Lions have any tradable assets going into free agency? (16:15)
• Comparing the top three cornerback draft prospects—Devon Witherspoon, Christian Gonzalez, Joey Porter Jr (20:00)
• Why do the Lions have so little cap space going into 2023? (25:45)
• How can the Lions create more cap room? (33:45)
• Thoughts on two NFL Combine winners: Iowa DE Lukas Van Ness and Iowa LB Jack Campbell (38:30)
• Would Georgia TE Darnell Washington make a good pick at 18? (41:15)
• Day 2 or 3 tight ends who can help (47:00)

Listen to the entire episode below:

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