The time to start thinking about the Lions’ future at quarterback is right now
Lions losing Teddy Bridgewater got me thinking about something much bigger. Detroit may need to start planning for the future at quarterback sooner than many fans want to admit.
The Detroit Lions lost backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to retirement this week, and while that’s not a season-altering move on its own, it opens a conversation that needs to be had. Detroit’s quarterback depth took a hit, and with the 2027 NFL Draft expected to feature the deepest quarterback class in recent NFL history, the Lions should start thinking about the future at the position now.
I know a lot of Lions fans are not going to want to have this conversation. When Dan Campbell announced on Sunday that Bridgewater was walking away, it shifted my entire thought process. Why didn’t they draft a quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft? That’s said with the full benefit of hindsight, and it was fine at the time because they could find a veteran backup. But now the picture looks different.
The 2027 quarterback class is loaded
Just look at some of the names expected to be available. Texas’s Arch Manning, Oregon’s Dante Moore, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, CJ Carr from Notre Dame, Trinidad Chambliss from Ole Miss, Nico Iamaleava from UCLA, CJ Bailey from North Carolina State, Jayden Maiava from USC (our personal favorite), Darian Mensah from Miami, Drew Mestemaker from Oklahoma State, and John Mateer from Oklahoma. It’s the biggest quarterback draft we have seen in a long time.
For comparison, the 2026 draft had Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson, and beyond that it was a lot of “maybe that guy will be good, who knows.” That’s what we’ve been seeing out of the latest drafts. The Rams tried to think about things early by going with Simpson. The Lions might find themselves in that same position.
This is not about replacing Jared Goff
I want to reiterate this as strongly as possible. This is not an article about saying Jared Goff should not be the Lions’ starting quarterback for the remainder of his contract and maybe even a little bit longer. He’s very, very good. 1000%, keep Jared Goff.
But he will be 33 during the 2027 season. The Lions have an out after the 2027 season. Eventually you have to start thinking about the future, and you don’t want to be in a position where you’re scrambling. Bridgewater just retired. Now what? You can’t put Luke Altmeyer out there because he has almost no experience in the NFL. He’s been a third-string quarterback for two weeks. He hasn’t played a snap of NFL football in an actual game yet.
The Packers and Chiefs blueprint
The Lions could put themselves in a strong position if they draft a quarterback in the first round of the 2027 NFL Draft. That player could serve as a premium backup while developing behind Goff. Think about what the Packers did with Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love, or what the Chiefs did with Alex Smith and Patrick Mahomes. This is how you do it.
Bridgewater walking away made the urgency real. Go get your quarterback in next year’s draft. Don’t fool around. Don’t wait. Goff will be 33 in 2027 and 34 in 2028, which is the last year of his contract as we know it today. I do expect at some point to see some sort of shifting, restructuring, or extending. As long as Goff can play, I don’t see a reason he’s not here until around 2030 when he’d be 36.
But it’s getting to the point where you have to start thinking about what your contingency plan is going to be. The 2027 draft features that contingency plan. We’ve got a long way to go — still a season to play and a ton of things that will happen between now and then — but Detroit should go get their quarterback and not wait around to find out what the position looks like when Goff’s contract winds down. I could see them going the Rams route. Let’s see what happens.
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