Lions News

[Futureshock]

[ghandi]

Dan Campbell on Jared Goff: He’s proven that he’s made for us

Posted by Josh Alper on March 28, 2023, 5:59 AM EDT

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When the Lions acquired Jared Goff in the trade that sent Matthew Stafford to the Rams ahead of the 2021 season, there was a lot of talk about him being a short-term fix while the team looked for a long-term option at quarterback.

The Lions have not made a move for another quarterback since acquiring Goff, however, and head coach Dan Campbell didn’t sound like he was in any hurry to do so when he spoke to Tom Pelissero of NFL Media on Monday. Campbell said that the last two years have shown him that Goff is the right guy for the job.

“Listen, feel really good about it. Goff? Love Goff. Goff’s our guy, man,” Campbell said. “I think he’s proven over the last two years that, man, he’s made for us. He’s had to endure a lot, just like all of us have. I thought he played his best football last year, and I think he’s gonna come out and play some of the best this year. Feel good about it. So I love our quarterback position right now.”

Campbell added that “when you’ve got a quarterback, you hold onto those guys,” but the Lions have two first-round picks this year and using one on a player to develop behind Goff — his contract runs through 2024 — could be an option as the team plans for the future. For now, though, there seems to be little thought of shaking things up at quarterback.

After this free agency where they let Jamaal WIlliams and Chark walk, I'd say that if the Lions feel they can upgrade they will (especially if it is a cheaper option)......im not completely sold that Brad is just going to hand Goff a 5 year, $200-250 million contract....I think he really wants to see if Goff can repeat his last 10 games over the course of the next season or more....

[Futureshock]

Detroit Lions, New York Giants to hold joint practices in 2023

By Jeremy Reisman

[TheLondonLion]

After this free agency where they let Jamaal WIlliams and Chark walk, I'd say that if the Lions feel they can upgrade they will (especially if it is a cheaper option)......im not completely sold that Brad is just going to hand Goff a 5 year, $200-250 million contract....I think he really wants to see if Goff can repeat his last 10 games over the course of the next season or more....

This is the biggest challenge the new front office has. What do you do about the QB situation?

You’re picking 6 so if you like a guy you can trade up and go and get him, securing the future (hopefully). Or you give Goff a year but you’re probably going to be paying him 50 million plus a year.

I’d err towards getting one now. Fix the roof while the sun is shining. At the very least they’re grabbing a project QB.

[Nick Pappageorgio]

We’re definitely interested in Campbell…that wasn’t a typo

https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/news/lions-dan-campbell-addresses-calais-campbell-rumors

[TheLondonLion]

Can’t say I watched the Ravens much last year but he’ll be 37.

Is he still good enough in a rotation? I got burned by Brockers.

[Whitley]

This is the biggest challenge the new front office has. What do you do about the QB situation?

You’re picking 6 so if you like a guy you can trade up and go and get him, securing the future (hopefully). Or you give Goff a year but you’re probably going to be paying him 50 million plus a year.

I’d err towards getting one now. Fix the roof while the sun is shining. At the very least they’re grabbing a project QB.

This QB class drops off a cliff after Hooker.....but yeah a project QB might be a good idea. If looking in the draft I like Bagent.

[Forsh]

Can’t say I watched the Ravens much last year but he’ll be 37.

Is he still good enough in a rotation? I got burned by Brockers.

Yeah the Brockers thing

[ghandi]

Brockers never should have got the 2 year extension to begin with, but I am guessing it was a handshake agreement with he and Holmes to get him to come to Detroit.....It was an overpay for a guy that was clearly on his last legs, but they must have felt it was very important to have a veteran presence in the locker room while trying to build a culture....Maybe it is teh same thing with Calais, but this time it may be to tutor a certain troubled but talented DT they have their eye on in the draft?

[The King]

Zero interest in a 36 year old DT and drafting a 26 year old QB.

[Whitley]

Zero interest in a 36 year old DT and drafting a 26 year old QB.

Don't like Hooker with a first.....if other needs are filled up....then maybe 81 at the earliest. Don't mind a developmental QB late though.

[whatever_gong82]

Detroit Lions to host Georgia's Jalen Carter, still evaluating choices with No. 6 pick

Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press


PHOENIX — The Detroit Lions will host Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter, one of the most polarizing prospects in this year's NFL draft, on a top-30 pre-draft visit next month.



Carter is widely considered one of the most talented players in the draft, but his stock has fallen in recent months due to questions about his work ethic and other character concerns.



Carter pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of reckless driving and racing in connection with a Jan. 15 accident that killed one of his teammates and a Georgia football staffer. He reportedly showed up nine pounds overweight to his pro day, then could not finish drills in front of scouts. And ESPN analyst Todd McShay referenced more character concerns, specifically his locker room demeanor, back in December when Carter was considered the possible first overall pick.


The Chicago Bears have since traded out of the No. 1 pick, and quarterbacks are now expected to go 1-2 to the Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans, while Carter's draft range remains a mystery.



The Arizona Cardinals at No. 3 are projected to be the first team to draft a position other than quarterback. The Seattle Seahawks at No. 5 are considered a possible landing spot for Carter. The Lions, owners of the sixth and 18th picks in the first round, need an inside pass rusher to complete their defensive line. And some think Carter could fall out of the top 10.




"I think you have to do your due diligence and it’s every team’s going to have to look into everything that was going on leading up to this year, any concerns," ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said in a teleconference earlier this month. "Todd McShay brought up the character concerns before anything happened with the tragedy of the accident there. You think about the football player, just the pure football player. Going into the year, where he was, No. 1 on the board. He had the ankle and knee injury in September, then he comes back and he plays really well and ends up still maintaining that No. 1 spot. So for pure football ability, he’s the No. 1 player in the draft."



Lions general manager Brad Holmes said Monday at the NFL's annual spring meeting the team leaves "no stone unturned" when it comes to evaluating character risks in the draft.


Asked specifically about Carter, Holmes said he would have more clarity on his evaluation once the Lions finish their position-by-position draft meetings later this spring.



"Honestly, you've heard me preach intangibles since Day 1, and I'm a firm believer still that intangibles are the separators of success," Holmes said. "You look at an Amon-Ra St. Brown, he's a talented player, but his intangibles are as good as it gets and that's why he has the success that he has. And there's countless other players I could name to rattle off, but talent is one thing while the intangible piece, the character piece, are components. But it doesn't make up the whole picture and the totality of the evaluation."





Holmes did not attend Georgia pro day, where Carter huffed his way through position drills, due to scheduling conflicts — the Bulldogs workout coincided with the first day of free agency — but the Lions GM was on hand last week to watch the pro day workout of another player in contention to be the first defensive player drafted, Alabama pass rusher Will Anderson Jr.


"Obviously, (they have) very talented prospects, but I wasn't there just to see one guy," Holmes said. "There were multiple players that it was good to get up close on, get an eye. Obviously, I saw them live when they played Texas early in the season, but just to get a refresh on those guys was good to get."



As for how much the Lions have whittled down their draft board, Holmes said he's not sure yet who will be in the pool of players the Lions will be picking from at six. Last year at this time, Holmes said there were "multiple players at multiple positions that if we turn the card in today we could turn that card in today and sleep well at night."



"I can't say that's the case right now, just being honest," Holmes said. "There's still more work to do. We've already done a lot of work, but like I talked about the process, we just kind of surrender the results to that, and we're still going through the process. Still more work to do. We'll make sure we'll get to the point where we'll make the best decision to add the best football player for us."



Tracking the Lions' pre-draft visits

These players are reported or confirmed to have taken pre-draft visits to Detroit: OG Chandler Zavala, NC State; OL Antonio Mafi, UCLA; QB Adrian Martinez, Kansas State; DE B.J. Thompson, Stephen F. Austin.


Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

[whatever_gong82]

Detroit Lions not interested in Lamar Jackson: 'We got a quarterback ... so we're good'

Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press


PHOENIX — The Detroit Lions are one of the betting favorites to land Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in a trade, but Lions coach Dan Campbell said at the NFL's annual spring meeting Tuesday that's not in the cards.



"Yeah, look, Lamar’s a heck of a talent," Campbell said. "Trying to defend that guy has been something else. We played them two years ago but, man, we got a quarterback. So I’m like, we got a quarterback and thank God we got one, and so we’re good. But man, he’s a heck of a talent."


Jackson requested a trade from the Ravens earlier this month, a request he made public Monday in a post on Twitter.



The NFL MVP in 2019, Jackson is one of the most dynamic players in the NFL, a 26-year-old dual-threat quarterback who has amassed more than 12,000 yards passing and 4,000 rushing in his five-year career.



He and the Ravens have been in a contractual standoff for more than a year, with Jackson seeking a fully-guaranteed deal that reportedly pays him Deshaun Watson-type money (five years, $230 million).




The Ravens have balked at giving Jackson a guaranteed deal, in part because of injury concerns — Jackson has missed five games each of the past two regular seasons because of injury and sat out Baltimore's playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in January — and instead used the non-exclusive franchise tag on the quarterback before the start of free agency.


Under the franchise tag, Jackson stands to make a guaranteed $32.4 million next season, but is free to negotiate a contract with another team. The Ravens can match any deal Jackson signs, or receive two first-round picks as compensation.


So far, no team is known to have engaged Jackson in contract talks.

The Lions have Picks 6 and 18 in the first round next month, but plan to use those choices to fortify a playoff-contending roster after finishing 9-8 last season with Jared Goff at quarterback.



Goff, 28, had one of the best seasons of his career in 2022, throwing for 4,438 yards and 29 touchdowns. He finished the season on a streak of 324 straight pass attempts without an interception.


The Lions have said on multiple occasions they intend to move foward with Goff at quarterback, though Goff is not considered in the elite tier of NFL signal callers and questions persist about his long-term future in Detroit.




Asked Tuesday if the Lions will consider taking a quarterback in the first round — Alabama's Bryce Young, Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, Florida's Anthony Richardson and Kentucky's Will Levis are potential top-10 picks — given the likelihood they won't be drafting that high again anytime soon, Campbell left the door open to the possibility.


"I would say this, man," he said. "This year, as with most, you’re always looking to upgrade and free agency has given us the ability in areas to, man, we can do whatever we need to do in the draft. We feel pretty good about that. We don’t feel forced to do anything, you got to take this. And so with that, I would say, man, it doesn’t matter what the position is, if we can upgrade our team, top to bottom, we will do that."



Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

[whatever_gong82]

Lions coach Dan Campbell on Lamar Jackson: 'Heck of a talent,' but we've got a QB

Justin Rogers

The Detroit News


Phoenix — Until quarterback Lamar Jackson's status is settled, decision-makers for most of the league's 32 teams are going to field questions about whether they have interest in the 26-year-old, dynamic dual-threat who was named MVP in 2019.


Unable to come to terms on a new deal with the Baltimore Ravens, the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2018 draft, Jackson announced Monday he had requested a trade earlier in the month. And while it's still possible those fences will be mended, until they officially are, speculation will run wild about where Jackson could end up.





But if it wasn't clear before, it's probably time to cross Detroit off the list. A day after general manager Brad Holmes declined to comment specifically on Jackson, coach Dan Campbell dismissed the possibility of his team pursuing a deal with Baltimore.



"Look, Lamar is a heck of a talent," Campbell said Tuesday at the league meetings. "Trying to defend that guy has been something else. We played them two years ago. But, man, we got a quarterback. So, I'm like, 'We got a quarterback and thank God we got one.' And, so, we're good. But, man, he's a heck of a talent."




Lions quarterback Jared Goff is coming off one of his best seasons, two years after the Lions acquired the former No. 1 pick in a trade from the Los Angeles Rams. In 2022, he ranked in the top 10 in most passing categories, including a 99.3 passer rating.





And while there's an easy argument to be made that Jackson would be an upgrade, it dismisses the significant financial ramifications of such a move, which would include sending multiple, high-level draft assets to the Ravens, eating $15 million in dead money still owed to Goff after a $5 million roster bonus hit this month, and, most importantly, finding the cap space to pay Jackson the reported $45-50 million per season he's seeking.




But while Jackson might not be in the cards for the Lions, Campbell wasn't as quick to dismiss the possibility of selecting a quarterback early in the draft, one who could presumably challenge Goff down the road.



"This year, as with most, you're always looking to upgrade," Campbell said. "And free agency has given us the ability in areas to, man, we can do whatever we need to do in the draft. We feel pretty good about that. We don't feel forced to do anything — 'You got to take this.' And so with that, I would say, man, it doesn't matter what the position is, if we can upgrade our team top to bottom, we will do that."



jdrogers@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @Justin_Rogers

[chemiclord]

I mean... even if the Lions were interested, there'd be absolutely no way they'd announce that and potentially start a bidding war.

Straight up? Sure... I'd take Jackson over Goff seven days a week, and if I thought the Lions were just an elite QB away from a championship, I'd pull the trigger.

But they're not, and the resources it would take to make that upgrade would be better spent elsewhere.