Even with the Detroit Lions in the playoffs for the first time since 2016, NFL pundits have already begun exploring what significant moves the team could make during the offseason. However, the likely first thing on general manager Brad Holmes’ checklist is a contract extension for quarterback Jared Goff.
The quarterback’s current deal will expire at the end of the 2024 season.
The Lions could have completed a Goff extension last offseason. When they didn’t, questions arose about Detroit’s confidence in Goff. But the quarterback’s agent, Ryan Tollner, tried to put that to rest in an interview with The Athletic’s Kalyn Kahler.
“They said all the right things to Jared and to me, that (this season) is not about him having to prove himself for another year,” Tollner told Kahler. “Inevitably, players always feel that way. If you don’t make a long-term commitment, then they feel like you don’t completely believe in them.”
While Tollner didn’t get more specific about when a contract extension could come for Goff, Kahler implied in her reporting that both sides are thinking “long term” with Goff’s tenure in Detroit.
QB Jared Goff Feels ‘Genuinely Appreciated’ in Detroit
Goff has been rather terrific with the Lions, particularly over the past season and a half. In the final 10 games last season, Goff averaged 7.5 yards per attempt with 17 touchdowns and only 1 interception, as he led the Lions to an 8-2 finish.
Then this season, he posted 7.6 yards per attempt with a career-best 67.3% completion percentage. Goff threw for 4,575 yards and 30 touchdowns with 12 interceptions as well.
But on the occasion when he’s had a bad performance, NFL pundits have questioned his future with the Lions.
“Expectations have risen in Detroit, and if the Lions don’t finish the season strong with an NFC North title and a good postseason showing, [Jared] Goff could be the fall guy,” former NFL general manager Jeff Diamond wrote on December 13 after the team lost to the Chicago Bears. “He’ll especially need to play well in the two matchups with Minnesota over the final three weeks that could decide the division race.”
Goff, though, played well in each of those matchups versus the Minnesota Vikings. Detroit won both games, which sealed the team’s first 12-win season since 1991.
But while some parts of the public are still debating Detroit’s long-term plans behind center, the Lions have made their intentions obvious to Goff.
“He feels genuinely appreciated by the organization and by the fan base,” Tollner said of Goff according to Kahler. “It’s exciting to him to exude his best traits, this level of resilience. Because that’s what it feels like Detroit is all about.”
On January 12, Kahler wrote that the Lions “have cultivated an environment” where Goff has “more control of the offense than most NFL quarterbacks will ever have.” She added that with that trust, Goff has flourished back into a signal caller who can compete for championships.
Goff Set to Face Former Team With Los Angeles Rams Visit for NFC Wild Card Matchup
The Los Angeles Rams drafted Goff first overall in the 2016 NFL draft. In his second full season as a starter, he led the Rams to an NFC Championship.
That probably should have ended any concerns about Goff being a franchise quarterback. But Goff didn’t produce the same elite numbers in 2019 and 2020 as he did on the way a Super Bowl appearance in 2018. Then the Rams traded him for fellow quarterback Matthew Stafford ahead of the 2021 NFL draft.
Goff has rebounded by leading the Lions to a 20-7 record in the past 27 games. But a playoff win, especially one against Stafford and his former team, will go even further to squashing any rumors that Goff isn’t the long-term solution in Detroit.
Not that it’s any question within the Lions organization.
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Jared Goff’s Agent Breaks Silence on Potential Lions Contract Extension