Lions Part Ways With Veteran QB Ahead of NFL Draft

Jake Fromm throws a pass before a New York Giants game.
The Detroit Lions are clearing some space in the quarterback room one day before the NFL draft.

The team announced on April 23 that they released quarterback Jake Fromm, who had joined the team on a reserve/future contract earlier this offseason. Fromm had fallen down the depth chart and likely would have faced a big challenge to make even the practice squad this summer, but now will need to find a new NFL home.

 
Jake Fromm Spent Time in Detroit Last Year
As Jeff Risdon of USA Today’s Lions Wire noted, Fromm already had another stint in Detroit and found his way onto the depth chart.

“He joined Detroit midway through training camp last summer and impressed enough to stick around as the de facto third quarterback,” Risdon wrote. “The one-time Georgia Bulldogs star has bounced around a few NFL teams since being drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.”

Fromm has had an unusual NFL journey. He joined the Bills in 2020, the only quarterback the team has drafted since landing Josh Allen in 2018, but played an unusual role that season. The Bills kept Fromm on the practice squad and had him remain away from all of his teammates, serving as an emergency “quarantine” quarterback who could fill in if the other signal callers were forced out due to the strict COVID protocols that season.

Fromm returned to Buffalo’s practice squad in 2021 but was poached by the New York Giants, starting two games that season and completing 27 of 60 passes for 210 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

 
Lions Could Make Another Quarterback Move
The Lions could still have more moves coming for their quarterback room. The team used a third-round pick on Hendon Hooker in 2023, but he could face a challenge for the No. 2 job after the team signed veteran Kyle Allen.

Lions general manager Brad Holmes told reporters in early April that Hooker would need to earn the starting job.

“I mean, look, we like Hendon,” Holmes said, via USA Today’s Lions Wire. “He had the injury that first year, then last year that was the first year that he kind of was able to do a full year of training camp and during the season. And then we brought Teddy Bridgewater in just because we were gearing up for the playoffs and postseason and he just wasn’t ready yet, you know? And he understood that.”

Hooker spent the majority of his rookie season rehabbing a torn ACL that cut short his final season at Tennessee. He has struggled with consistency since then, eventually getting surpassed on the depth chart by veteran Teddy Bridgewater, who came out of retirement to join the team late in the season.

Holmes said the team still has faith in Hooker, but won’t be handing the job to him.

“Still got high hopes for [Hooker], but nobody’s gonna be given a job either,” Holmes stated. “So if Hendon wants to be the number two quarterback, then win the No. 2 quarterback job.”

Some analysts have suggested the Lions could trade Hooker if he is unable to win the backup job.
Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty