Lions end Hendon Hooker experiment

Rehabbing a major injury during his first year in Detroit, Hooker has not progressed to the point that the Lions have felt comfortable with him as Jared Goff‘s top backup. Discussing the young QB over the weekend, Dan Campbell signaled a separation was likely.

Campbell said a change of scenery would probably benefit the Tennessee alum at this point, and that will happen. Hooker does not appear to be a candidate for Detroit’s practice squad. Two years remain on his third-round contract. Hooker, 27, is due just more than $1M in 2025 base salary. That figure is nonguaranteed, but the former Heisman candidate’s shaky Detroit stint may not make it a lock that he is claimed. The Lions would eat less than $600K in dead money if Hooker goes unclaimed. The team will know by 11 a.m. CT Wednesday if the QB is claimed.

The Lions will give their backup job to Kyle Allen, who signed a one-year, $1.27M deal this offseason. Although Allen spent last year as the Steelers’ third-stringer, he outplayed Hooker in the preseason after the latter committed five turnovers during Detroit’s exhibition slate. After the Lions reunited with Teddy Bridgewater to close last season, Allen’s arrival brought another challenge for Hooker.

The Bridgewater move came after Hooker served as the Lions’ top backup for most of last season. Hooker played in three games, completing six of nine passes for 62 yards. That represents his only NFL game action, as the former Virginia Tech recruit spent most of his rookie year on the Lions’ reserve/NFI list due to the ACL tear sustained in November 2022. Hooker was mentioned as a candidate to be drafted earlier than he was (No. 68), but he has thus far proven skeptics — due partially to a Tennessee offense that brought questions about the formerly productive passer’s transition to the pros — right to this point.

Detroit does not have a third QB on its roster, making it logical that the team will pursue one for its practice squad as the emergency option. The Lions carried Goff, Bridgewater and Hooker to close last season. Allen, 29, is now on team No. 6. He has worked as a backup or third-stringer — and fill-in starter, occasionally — in Carolina, Washington, Houston, Buffalo and Pittsburgh.

Allen’s most notable NFL work came in 2019, when he quarterbacked a mediocre Panthers team — Christian McCaffrey‘s historic 1,000-1,000 season notwithstanding — to a 5-7 record in his starts replacing an injured Cam Newton. Allen made two more starts with a bad 2022 Texans squad, but has attempted one regular-season pass since 2023. Goff’s durability continues to benefit the Lions, but they will likely replace Hooker soon.