It's Definitely Time For the Lions to Add Another Quarterback

It's Definitely Time For the Lions to Add Another Quarterback originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The 2025 NFL preseason did not get off to a good start for the Detroit Lions.

They were dominated by the Los Angeles Chargers on the way to a 34-7 in the Hall of Fame Game.

The result itself isn't a huge deal. The Hall of Fame Game is just an extra exhibition game and the Lions weren't playing a large chunk of the guys who will be on the roster in Week 1.

However, there were things that we saw on the field that were troubling.

One of the biggest was the Lions' play at the quarterback position.

Neither of the QBs who got in this game for the Lions moved the ball particularly well.

Kyle Allen went 9/14 for 91 yards with a pair of back-breaking interceptions. The first set the Chargers up for their second touchdown of the game. The other came deep in Chargers territory to end one of the Lions' only drives where they found some success.

Hendon Hooker didn't get nearly as much time as Allen, but also didn't look much better. He completed three of six pass attempts for 18 yards and threw an interception that wasn't really his fault.

I would once again like to stress that you can only take so much away from these kinds of games, but if you're the Lions, you can't be feeling good about what you have available behind Jared Goff.

Even if they're hoping that one of these two actually is good enough to be their backup QB, it's time to bring in some more competition.

They can't wait and see if these two are bad again next week. The longer they wait, the less time any other QB they bring in will have to learn the playbook before the start of the season and the less chance they have of seeing that QB in the preseason before deciding they're the backup.

There aren't a ton of options, but there are some viable options out there.

The first is Carson Wentz. It's an idea that has been talked about recently and his experience plus a couple of years with top offenses could make him a good fit.

Joe Flacco could also be a possibility. The Browns are going to have to move on from one of their four QBs and he's the one that makes the least sense on their roster right now.

Jameis Winston would also make sense, but for some reason the Giants have reportedly made him just about untouchable.

The Chiefs probably won't keep both Bailey Zappe and Gardner Minshew, so either one of them could be an option.

Maybe the Chargers would be open to trading Trey Lance. He's currently third on their depth chart, but played well last night and has way more upside than Hooker at 25 years old.

However they decide to address the situation, the Lions need to have a better option to turn to in case last night really is indicative of what their backup QBs have to offer. Otherwise they'll be playing catchup at the start of the season at the worst position to potentially be doing that.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 1, 2025, where it first appeared.