Lions Talked About QB Jared Goff 'At Length' All Offseason
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Following the completion of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions will now resume offseason workouts at their Allen Park practice facility, including rookie minicamp, organized team activities and mandatory team minicamp.
Over the course of the next calendar year, the biggest decision awaiting general manager Brad Holmes involves the future of veteran quarterback Jared Goff.
Widely considered a bridge quarterback, Goff must continue to prove he is worthy of a long-term contract extension.
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A sub-par season, after the team invested heavily at the wideout position, could see Goff on his way out of town, as the salary cap hit to move on from him is markedly less in 2023 than it is this season.
“Yeah, obviously we talked about Jared at length all spring. We think that he’s a quarterback we can win with," Holmes said last weekend. "Obviously, we’ve made some additions on the outside starting with free agency. We obviously did some things in the Draft, but we felt pretty good about our offensive line. We didn’t go into the Draft saying that we’d ignore it. Obviously, we were happy that we were able to add a guy like James Mitchell when he gets healthy."
Goff played significantly better in the second half of the 2021 season, coinciding with offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn accepting a reduced role in play-calling, the team adding Josh Reynolds and Ben Johnson's role in the offense expanding.
After early struggles, Goff was more comfortable taking shots down the field and the team was able to secure three victories down the stretch.
That talent all around him has improved on offense, which indicates the 2022 season will be a year he is given the opportunity to prove what he can accomplish moving forward.
"Anytime you win three games there’s going to be discussion at a lot of positions and quarterback’s no different," Goff recently told reporters. "So I’ve got to prove myself every year, every day and work as best I can and be the best I can every day."
The Lions have repeatedly expressed confidence in Goff's ability to lead the team to victories.
Holmes and Co. did not draft a quarterback this year, thus further giving the 27-year-old quarterback confidence he could be the quarterback of the future.
“I don’t want to say, ‘No excuses,’ but I do think the more weapons and the better resources that you surround your quarterback with is just better and it helps them out more. You could say that for any quarterback," Holmes said. "He will obviously have more coming into this year. I really admire and appreciate what he did with what he worked with last year. I wouldn’t say it’s no excuses, but we just expect him to be set up for success, which (head coach) Dan (Campbell) and I said we were going to do for Jared.”
