Getty General managers Bob Quinn and Steve Keim before Lions vs. Cardinals in 2020.
The Detroit Lions have been struggling along this season, and their woeful record leads to the notion that there could be some huge changes on the horizon for the team this offseason.
Many fans likely want to see the Lions dramatically clean house following what’s been an embarrassing year on the field. But could a more modest change be made in the organization? As Locked On Lions host Matt Dery explained, that could be the answer when all is said and done.
On a recent episode of the show, Dery talks about hearing hints from a few trusted folks that fans might want to start tempering their expectations for an earth shattering shakeup in Allen Park later this year.
Dery said:
“I had a couple people hit me up today, these are decent sources, these are people that have been around the block that know people within the building. They said don’t hold your breath on Bob Quinn losing his job. In fact you are wrong. They’re not going to hire a president of football operations. They’re not going to hire a new general manager. That Matt Patricia likely will be gone. These are just sources. I’m not reporting this, I’m telling you what people in the know have told me, that reached out to me and said Bob Quinn and Rod Wood are attached to the hip. Bob likes Rod, and Rod likes Bob. Don’t necessarily prepare yourself for some enormous house cleaning. Yeah, maybe Patricia’s going to go. We might not see Bob Quinn lose his job.”
Previously, Dery theorized that fans might see Quinn stick around and the boss might tap someone like Bill O’Brien to be the team’s next head coach if they moved on from Patricia yet the front office stayed intact. That scenario may have seemed frustrating or laughable to fans a few months ago, but suddenly it could seem more plausible.
Dery admitted later in the show that the scenario he outlined certainly wasn’t written in stone and the Lions could always find a way to lose their way into bigger changes. Still, even whispers that Quinn could remain in place will likely frustrate legions of fans who want to see a complete overhaul after another lost season on the field.
There’s a long way to go before the end of the season, but for now, it’s interesting to note the direction some folks think could be forged when all is said and done.
Bob Quinn’s Tenure With Lions
Quinn came to the Lions in 2016 after a major house cleaning during the 2015 season that was presided over by Martha Ford. An exhaustive search turned up Quinn, who worked in the front office in New England. He was quickly tapped to run the Detroit franchise. Quinn elected to keep Jim Caldwell and his first full season as general manager was 9-7 with a playoff defeat. Caldwell stayed under Quinn again and went 9-7 but missed the playoffs in 2017-18 season, leading Quinn to tap Matt Patricia to be his head coach. Since, it’s been downhill for the franchise as Patricia’s record is 13-28-1, an ugly mark which puts him in dubious company as Detroit’s boss.
As the team’s general manager, Quinn’s moves have been largely hit or miss during his tenure. For every good move he’s produced, there’s been a bad one. For instance, the Lions did discover wideout Kenny Golladay, but also selected linebacker Jahlani Tavai over elite wideouts A.J. Brown and DK Metcalf. He signed wideout Marvin Jones who’s been very productive, but also handed out a big deal to struggling guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai. Quinn picked center Frank Ragnow, but also whiffed on linebacker Jarrad Davis. For every fifth round pick making a difference like cornerback Amani Oruwariye or wideout and return man Jamal Agnew, there’s one like running back Jason Huntley who’s been given up on fast.
Such a mixed bag like this could almost certainly point to a change being needed, but that might not be so cut and dry in the end.
Who Could Bob Quinn Choose to Replace Matt Patricia?
If Quinn stays and Patricia goes, what’s next for the Lions? In that scenario, it would be expected someone with familiar ties would be in play such as Bill O’Brien. Josh McDaniels didn’t interview with the Lions the last time around, but Quinn could always choose to look in his direction this time. It’s fair to say McDaniels may want no part of the job considering what would have happened to Patricia, however. Quinn could choose to look at hot offensive names such as Kevin O’Connell, Eric Bieniemy and Arthur Smith as well. It’s possible in this scenario someone with direct ties to Quinn or the overall New England tree would draw the strongest consideration.
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