The Detroit Lions have reportedly made a decision on quarterback Hendon Hooker.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Lions are going to release Hooker ahead of the cutdown deadline on Tuesday, Aug. 26.
“The Lions are releasing QB Hendon Hooker, sources say,” Garafolo reported. “Dan Campbell suggested the other day the 2023 third-round pick could use a change of scenery and he’ll have the chance to do so now.”
If you’re surprised by this move, you really shouldn’t be.
Hooker was once again battling for the backup quarterback job in 2025, a role he won over Nate Sudfeld last season.
However, this time around he didn’t come close to winning the competition, as Kyle Allen soundly beat him out. Once that was established, Hooker’s spot on the roster depended on the Lions carrying a third quarterback, but head coach Dan Campbell made it pretty clear he preferred to have more depth instead of doing that.
“Well that’s exactly what it is. If you do that, you lose depth, what, D-line or O-line? Or receiver, or defense back, or linebacker or — you get the point,” he said.
“So, how important is that relative to the other positions? What’s hard is — look, call it what you want, when you have a year like we did last year, you get affected a little bit by it. It has an effect on the way you think. Depth, depth, depth. We’ve got to make sure that we have the depth,” Campbell added.
On top of that, Hooker didn’t show any progress in preseason play. In fact, you could even say he took a step back from what we saw of him in 2024.
Now, Hooker will go to waivers on Wednesday, where there stands a chance that a team will take a flyer on him. If not, he’ll go to free agency and the Lions will have an opportunity to add him to the practice squad if Hooker is willing to stay.
But we would suspect Hooker wants a change of scenery, in which case his days with the Lions will be over.
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