Here are some base level things when it comes to Detroit Lions quarterback Hendon Hooker. He is 27 years old, now halfway through a four-year rookie contract. With Jared Goff under contract through 2028, it will take a significant, literally career-threatening injury to him for Hooker to have any path to being the Lions’ starting quarterback.
Through actions, be it reported interest in Daniel Jones or signing Teddy Bridgewater off the street in December, the Lions showed us they don’t have faith Hooker could step in and play meaningful snaps if he had to. Then Bridgewater was made the No. 2 quarterback over Hooker for the playoff game against the Commanders.
Knowledge of those things prompted ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, albeit largely due to a lack of other options, to suggest Hooker as an offseason cut candidate for the Lions. But there’s a case for Hooker as a tradeable asset, even if he’d most likely only fetch a Day 3 draft pick.
If Hooker is not practically a lock to enter next season as the No. 2 quarterback behind Goff, it’s easy to question whether he should even be on the roster. And as it sits right now, he doesn’t seem to be a lock to have that place on the depth chart.
To put it another way, the development Hooker needs would not come easily via being the No. 3 quarterback and a weekly inactive/the emergency quarterback. So the idea of trying to trade him, and teams possibly having some interest in him, is not entirely ludicrous.
Any early Hendon Hooker trade speculation gets expectedly squashed
John Maakaron of SI.com did some digging into the idea Hooker might have reduced value to the Lions.
“The expectation from those close to Hooker is he will remain in Motown to continue his development.”
“According to those with knowledge of the situation, new offensive coordinator John Morton is very intrigued about the quarterbacks on the Lions’ roster, including Hooker.”
So those close to Hooker expect him to remain with the Lions and continue his development in Detroit. And new offensive coordinator John Morton is very intrigued about the quarterbacks on the Lions’ roster, including Hooker of course.
Maakaron is an excellent writer and reporter, so there’s no questioning his sources. But anything other than those two notions about Hooker would be surprising, in an effort to squash whatever level of speculation there might be about his future as a Lion. However, that mission was not really accomplished here and the basic realities about Hooker’s situation remain.
