NFL cut-down day is fast approaching. By 4 P.M. ET on Tuesday, August 26, the Detroit Lions and the rest of the league must trim their rosters from 90 players down to 53.
And while every team has tough choices, Detroit’s most fascinating decision might come at quarterback.
Jared Goff is locked in at the top. He’s both the short- and long-term vision in Detroit, fresh off a season where he completed an impressive 72.4 percent of his passes for 4,629 yards and a career-high 37 touchdowns. The Matthew Stafford trade continues to look better and better.
Behind Goff, though, things get messy.
Hendon Hooker was supposed to be the next man up, the developmental piece who could stabilize the position if Goff ever missed time. The Lions spent a third-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to secure him. But two years in, Hooker has slid to the bottom of the depth chart.
Kyle Allen, signed to a one-year, $1.27 million deal this offseason, has jumped him. Allen started shaky in the preseason with two interceptions in his debut, but has since settled in. Over his last two games, he’s completed 21 of 25 passes for 244 yards and four touchdowns.
Dan Campbell even admitted the obvious after Detroit’s latest exhibition: “He’s playing better (than Hendon Hooker). So, I would say that right now, if you had to go in (a game) with a (QB2) right now, who would you trust more? Yeah, I would trust Kyle more because he’s proven more after these two games.”
Hooker still has two years left on his rookie contract, and the Lions won’t take parting ways with him lightly.
His athletic profile remains intriguing: he’s mobile, has a strong arm, and shows flashes on film. But his struggles to process NFL defenses have slowed everything down. The decision-making hasn’t caught up to the speed of the game.
That leaves Detroit with a dilemma.
Hendon Hooker Will Have Plenty of Interest if Lions Cut Him
Keeping three quarterbacks means sacrificing a roster spot elsewhere. Cutting Hooker means risking him on waivers.
At 27 years old, with draft pedigree and physical upside, he would almost certainly draw interest across the league. We just saw the Green Bay Packers take a flier on Malik Willis last season — Hooker would generate even more buzz.
The Lions must decide if the traits they once fell in love with are worth protecting. If they let him go, another team will gladly try to unlock the upside. If they keep him, they’re committing valuable roster space to a project that hasn’t shown enough yet.
Either way, Hooker’s fate will be one of the most-watched storylines of cut-down day in Detroit.