The Detroit Lions have a new backup quarterback. Or at least, the makings of an intriguing battle for the position.
The Lions agreed to a free agent contract Thursday with veteran quarterback Kyle Allen, his agent announced.
Allen, 29, has played seven NFL seasons for five different teams and spent last year with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He went 5-7 as starter for the Carolina Panthers in 2019 and has started six games over the past five seasons for Washington (in 2020) and the Houston Texans (in 2022). Last year, he appeared in one game and completed his only pass for 19 yards.
Jared Goff is entrenched as the Lions starting quarterback and coming off one of the best seasons of his career. For a backup, the team took Hendon Hooker in the third round of the 2023 draft.
Hooker did not play as a rookie while rehabbing a college knee injury. He completed 6 of 9 passes in three games of mop-up duty last year, but the Lions signed veteran Teddy Bridgewater as veteran quarterback insurance before the playoffs.
When Goff briefly left the Lions’ divisional round playoff loss to the Washington Commanders, Bridgewater came on the field for four snaps. He completed one pass for 3 yards to Jahmyr Gibbs, and the Lions scored on his final play on a 61-yard reverse by Jameson Williams.
“Doesn’t mean we’re disappointed in Hooker,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said in December about Bridgewater’s return. “That’s not what this means, it just means this gives us somebody that’s played a lot in the NFL, we’re getting ready for the playoffs. And so, it’ll be good to get him back in the fold with us.”
Bridgewater retired after the 2023 season to coach high school football at his high school alma matter, Miami Northwestern. He planned to return to coaching this fall.
The Lions now have four quarterbacks on the 90-man roster − Goff, Allen, Hooker and Jake Fromm, who spent most of last season on practice squad. Last year, they kept two quarterbacks on their 53-man roster for most of the season, until adding Bridgewater late in the year.
Allen, who went undrafted out of Houston in 2018, is the first free agent the Lions have signed from another team on the offensive side of the ball this spring.
