The Detroit Lions have had Jared Goff in the mix for a year now at quarterback, and after an up and down 2021 season, all sights are focused ahead on 2022 for the team and the player.
Barring any kind of dramatic move, it seems the Lions will be committed to Goff for another season as a signal caller, whether the team drafts a quarterback of the future this April or not. When offseason work begins, Goff now knows exactly what is expected of him from the team.
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Speaking during the Senior Bowl to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Lions general manager Brad Holmes was asked about where things stand with Goff this offseason. As Holmes said, Goff understands what he has to do in order to be in a good place for the 2022 season.
I spoke at the @seniorbowl with #Lions GM Brad Holmes about taking advantage of this week, Jared Goff’s future and the chances he’ll trade out of the No. 2 pick: “I’m never scared to move around, so we’re definitely open for business, always.” @nflnetwork
“Jared, he knows what he has to do this offseason and heading into 2022. He’s got to show up and prove it. He finished the season off that second half well. He battled some adversity early on. I like how he stayed the course, played some good football late. He’s got to show up and do it again and compete,” Holmes told Pelissero.
The Lions wanting to see Goff continue to compete and improve is a huge statement, and it implies that Goff isn’t necessarily locked-in long-term as many believe. For him to stay with the Lions in the future, he will continue to have to win the job with small offseason steps such as this and elevate his own play constantly.
Holmes may appreciate Goff, but he isn’t going to simply be handing him the job ever. As always, the boss wants to see the team’s top quarterback continue to push himself this offseason, which is something that is very likely to happen.
Goff Believes ‘Best Yet to Come’ for Lions in 2022
As these comments prove, the Lions aren’t likely to be moving on from Goff at all this offseason, which means he is going to be the leader of the team for the foreseeable future. Heading into the 2022 offseason, Goff made the kind of statement to his team that a committed quarterback would.
Just after the conclusion of the season, Goff posted a message on Instagram in which he expressed thankful feelings for the 2021 season, and also said that he believes the good times are coming for the Lions as well as their fans.
“Thankful for another season in the books and the lessons learned along the way. The best is yet to come for this group #313,” Goff wrote.
The Lions, who were winless at the midway point and looking hopeless, rebounded for a fantastic finish to the year and managed to go 3-3 over the final six games in spite of having a team that was injury riddled as well as dealing with illness at the time. As Goff seems to know, there is a lot of reasons to like where the Lions are heading in the future given this fact, and the improvements that are likely to come this offseason.
Goff Enjoyed Solid Finish During 2021 Season
Detroit has a quarterback they can seemingly count on for the future in Goff under center. In spite of all the early struggles and injury trouble late in the year, Goff found a way to finish the 2021 season strong on the field. Since Thanksgiving, Goff was on relative fire as statistics go at quarterback. He threw 11 touchdowns to just 2 interceptions while going off for 1,136 passing yards. Goff has also claimed elusive awards for a Lions quarterback such as NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors as well as FedEx Air Player of the Week award.
Perhaps the game that showed Lions fans the most was his impressive 3 touchdown performance against the Arizona Cardinals:
All of this has more than likely cemented Goff’s future with the team in the short-term. The Lions could well draft another quarterback, but if they do, Goff is still likely to stick around for the future to help the team continue to build in the best way possible.
Even though that is the case, it is clear Holmes wants to see Goff continue to put in the work to get better for 2022.
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Brad Holmes Sends Pointed Offseason Message to Jared Goff for 2022