Most of the NFL world considers Jared Goff to be a bridge for the Lions, a starter to help them get to the real franchise starting QB at some point in the future. That is, everyone except the Lions.
Winner of four of its last five games, Detroit is one of the hottest teams in the NFL. Goff's play is a big reason why.
As the Lions prepare to face the Vikings today, they do so with a 5-7 record and with Goff playing as well as he's played since 2018.
As sources have explained, Goff is believed to be their starting QB. Period. Not just until someone else comes along. With all due respect to the unknown -- weird things happen in the NFL -- the plan is for Goff to be in Detroit for the future.
"Here's the one consistent is, man, just make the right decisions, take care of the football, and he's done that," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said Monday following Detroit's 40-14 win over Jacksonville. "And that's five weeks going now and that's a big part of the reason why we're winning. He's making very smart decisions and we were going to put a lot on him (Sunday) with his arm. This was going to be a big -- put it in the air, we just felt like that was the way to attack this team. And he did that and then some."
To be sure, Goff is on his best run since he led the Rams to Super Bowl LIII. His passer rating of 95.7 is his best since that year, and so is his 7.5 pass yards per attempt -- both figures per NFL Research.
The only three players to have multiple games with four-plus TDs this season are Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen… and Goff. Goff is also one of three QBs with five-plus TD passes and zero INTs since Week 10 (along with Jimmy Garoppolo and Trevor Lawrence).
Then-new Lions general manager Brad Holmes traded for Goff in the Matthew Stafford deal during the 2021 offseason, taking on his contract and getting two first-round draft picks and more. While Stafford led the Rams to a Super Bowl title the next season, the trade has paid off for Detroit, too.
The Rams' 2023 first-round pick they sent to the Lions could end up being a top-10 pick, and Goff has two years left on his deal worth $52.3 million -- very favorable for a starter.
If Goff continues to impress and Detroit doesn't need to select a QB in this draft, that pick could end up being used on a top position player or a perfect pick to trade. There's plenty of time left until then, but where it stands right now is a huge positive for Detroit.
When Goff arrived in Detroit from Los Angeles, it was in the wake of the Rams and head coach Sean McVay making clear they were moving on from him. They reached the Super Bowl together, but it was over, and both sides were ready. Yet Goff had started for five years and had more than his share of moments with the Rams.
As the Lions consider it, he came to Detroit in the midst of a franchise undergoing a complete teardown, with a team crushed by injuries and starved for talent, plus one that would move on from offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn following the 2021 season. This year under OC Ben Johnson, who has emerged as a potential head coach candidate himself, Goff has impressed.
And no, the team is not looking to move on from that.
"I think like anything else, there's been growing pains throughout the whole thing," Campbell said this week, "but I think we're to the point where now those two know exactly who each other are and what they're looking for, and that's a nice place to be at."
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