Time is ticking as we draw closer to the 2022 NFL Draft.
That date will be huge for the Detroit Lions and Jared Goff.
The reason for that is they could draft a quarterback.
However, that move isn’t confirmed by anyone yet.
After his first season in Detroit, people were disappointed with him.
If the Lions draft a quarterback, they’d be clearly wasting Goff’s time in Detroit.
Even if they didn’t, they could still waste their time with him.
There are many reasons why Detroit would waste time keeping him around.
Goff’s Contract Puts A Huge Cap Hit On Lions
Goff is eating up $31.2 million in cap space in 2022.
💰💰💰 pic.twitter.com/M2mpQL4UxV
— PFF (@PFF) March 29, 2022
However, the Lions are in a pickle if they trade him or release him this season.
If the team does either of those options, they’d have $41.2 million in dead cap space.
That comes from them needing to pay his 2022 salary plus an additional $10 million.
The $10 million part comes from his restructuring of his contract for 2024-25.
So offloading Goff isn’t as simple as finding a team that needs a quarterback.
They would need a deal that could help them offload the dead cap space onto his new team.
However, if they wait until next season, it would only be a $10 million in dead cap space for them.
Detroit Is Wasting Goff’s Time Like They Did With Barry Sanders And Calvin Johnson
Detroit is the place where players’ careers die.
I'm happy for Matthew Stafford finally getting a chance to play in the Super Bowl, after toiling and grinding it out for 12 years in Detroit, where many players careers go to die. Stafford stayed the course, and didn't give up. Well deserved. #matthewstafford #Rams #DGD
— Jason Nicholson (@jsnich79) January 31, 2022
The best years of Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson were wasted away in Detroit.
Sanders never had an offense that could produce outside of him.
Johnson never had an offense with a dominant running back like Sanders during his years in Detroit.
However, Goff has no clearly dominant running back or a top tier receiver in Detroit.
If they want to see any success out of him, they would need to give him those tools.
By not giving him weapons on offense to use in games, they are wasting their time with him.
They can’t expect him to have a Super Bowl-worthy performance with the team without some better players.
While they had some 100-yard rushing games in 2021, they never found consistency in the backfield with rushing totals like that.
That means he won’t have needed tools to succeed, much like Johnson and Sanders never had tools during their time in Detroit.
If Lions Fans Want Success, A Change Of Ownership Is Needed
The Lions have found nearly no success since winning the 1957 championship game.
That was before the Super Bowl and before the AFL-NFL merger.
However, the team rarely puts together a roster to win playoff games.
The 2014-15 NFL season was the Lions’ best chance of winning a playoff game.
They had Stafford, Johnson, and a top five defense.
However, they lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the first round.
Ownership did nothing to build off the team’s defensive success.
Lions ownership at least circles the problem for their fans.
That circle goes around the Ford name, the family behind the failures of the Lions for over 60 years.
NEXT: Lions GM Shares His Strategy At Pick No. 2