Getty Kyle Lauletta throws a Senior Bowl pass.
The Detroit Lions seemingly don’t have a need at quarterback, but that hasn’t stopped them from continuing to scour the market in recent months.
Plenty of names, from Trevor Siemian to DeShone Kizer have been brought in for tryouts and extended looks from the Detroit staff, and the latest name to surface is another interesting one in Kyle Lauletta.
According to the league workout wire, the team brought Lauletta in for a visit. The former 4th round pick of the New York Giants in 2018 was with the team for a year before being released. He then latched on with the Philadelphia Eagles before being released earlier this offseason. The Atlanta Falcons picked Lauletta up and kept him around their practice squad until September 22 when they released him. He’s been a free agent ever since.
Kyle Lauletta Stats
While in college, Lauletta played with Richmond where he put up some excellent numbers through the years which led to the notion he might be a servicable NFL quarterback. He posted 10,465 career passing yards, 73 touchdowns and just 35 interceptions to go with a respectable 63.5 completion percentage. All of that led to Lauletta being invited to the Senior Bowl in 2018, where he fired 3 touchdowns and got on even more league radars as the game’s MVP.
Lauletta has never been given a huge shot to stick on an NFL roster, but he has been impressive during preseason and camp repetitions. In spite of that, he has only 5 pass attempts in his NFL career coming in mop up or emergency duty and has thrown 1 interception. Safe to say Lauletta’s best shot of cracking the league right now will be as a backup quarterback, but he is trying to climb back on radars after bouncing around the first few years of his career.
Lions Quarterback Situation
On paper, Detroit’s backup situation is much better in 2020. The Lions now have Chanse Daniel at their disposal, and he’s been a quality NFL player for a long time capable of leading an offense in the absence of a starter. Behind him, the team has kept David Blough as the No. 3 on the practice squad. In the past, the Lions have rolled with 2 quarterbacks and did so again this season, but the coronavirus pandemic plus their struggles in 2019 have pushed them to remain open to the possibility of having more around. Blough has good experience in the event he did have to lead the offense in a pinch, so this is a strong group which should benefit from a healthy Matthew Stafford and a competent Daniel entering the mix. So far, that’s been the case.
Where Lauletta or any other quarterback might fit in that dynamic at this point in time is very debatable, and the Lions are likely keeping their options open as it relates to a a contingency plan in the event they ever need one in the weeks or months ahead thanks to the coronavirus.
At the very least, they now will have a better idea of what Lauletta brings to the table.