Detroit Lions: 5 Quarterbacks who could replace Matthew Stafford
The Matthew Stafford era is over with the Detroit Lions but, through free agency, trade or the NFL Draft, which quarterbacks could take his place?
The Detroit Lions are no strangers to having superstar talents who never are able to achieve the level of team success that fans have so long desired. Barry Sanders is the most obvious and Calvin Johnson is not far behind. And it appears that we can now add former No. 1 overall pick, quarterback Matthew Stafford, to that equation.
According to a report from NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, Stafford and the Lions met at the end of last week and the quarterback requested a trade. Detroit plans to explore their trade options and, thus, it seems as if the franchise will be hitting reset at the position.
That, of course, first begs the question of where Stafford could be traded and what Detroit could get in return. But at the same time, it also makes you wonder what the Lions will do next at quarterback. To put it plainly, there is no shortage of possible options for them.
So whether by trade, free agency or the 2021 NFL Draft, let’s take a look at five possible quarterback targets for the Detroit Lions to replace Matthew Stafford.
Detroit Lions QB target No. 5: Jimmy Garoppolo
The future of Jimmy Garoppolo is undoubtedly uncertain at this point. After another injury-plagued season with the San Francisco 49ers, the former Patriots second-round pick now only carries a dead cap hit of $2.8 million for the 2021 season while his salary is north of $26 million. Thus, if the Niners believe they can upgrade at quarterback, it would be easy to move on from Jimmy G prior to the upcoming campaign.
How they choose to navigate that, however, will be the interesting part. On one hand, they could just simply cut the veteran to recoup nearly $24 million on the salary cap and then look towards the draft or via trade to get a replacement. Or perhaps they could look to a team like the Lions and the potential that Stafford could bring and work out a swap at the quarterback position, one that would give Detroit a readymade starter at the position in return for their longtime man under center.
Garoppolo is far from a perfect quarterback and, frankly, doesn’t have nearly the pedigree of Stafford. Having said that, he’s an experienced player who was the quarterback for a 49ers team that earned a Super Bowl berth just last season. If the Lions aren’t interested in a pseudo-rebuild, there are much worse options than bringing in Jimmy G and allowing him to be the reset at quarterback under new head coach Dan Campbell.