The simple factor to do for whoever is answerable for main the following iteration of your Detroit Lions is to journey Matthew Stafford into the sundown of his profession. But when this group is critical about remaking itself right into a perennial Tremendous Bowl contender, having and executing a brand new long-term imaginative and prescient on the quarterback place is the place it begins.

Stafford is one of the best quarterback most Lions followers have rooted for of their lifetime, and it’s potential now just isn’t absolutely the time to maneuver on.

That choice, although, should not less than be on the desk because the franchise embarks on what could possibly be an arduous rebuild.

Stafford’s long-term future in Detroit has been a subject of countless dialogue lately, principally from media varieties pontificating about what the staff ought to do. Few within the group have appeared prepared to embrace change at quarterback, for apparent causes, and Stafford has genuinely loved enjoying in Detroit.

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However ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky, Stafford’s good good friend and former teammate, gave credence to the thought Stafford and the staff would contemplate a mutual parting after I talked to him this summer time.

“I’ll preserve it 100 with you,” Orlovsky mentioned on the time. “Like, pay attention, he’s both going to win there this yr or a winner’s going to come back get him. … Perhaps I’m silly and naïve and biased, I simply assume finally he’ll both win there or shall be on a winner (some place else if he would not) due to it.”

Orlovsky went a step additional Saturday on Twitter after the Lions fired head coach Matt Patricia and basic supervisor Bob Quinn, writing the time has come for a “full begin over and transfer on from Stafford.”

“It’s time from each the group standpoint and the gamers place as effectively,” Orlovsky wrote. “It didn’t work out.”

Whether or not Orlovsky is talking for Stafford solely he is aware of, however both manner his level rings true: Neither Stafford nor the group has reached the heights they hoped when the Lions took Stafford with the No. 1 decide of the 2009 draft, and each is perhaps higher off going their very own manner in 2021.

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Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford walks off the sector after the 41-25 loss to the Texans at Ford Subject, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020.

Whoever the Lions rent as their chief soccer choice maker may have tight turns to navigate with regards to Stafford’s future, which is why his long-term imaginative and prescient for the quarterback place is paramount.

Stafford, who turns 33 in February, has two years left on the contract extension he signed in 2017, and buying and selling him, by my calculations, would go away the Lions with a useless cash cap hit of $19.45 million.

That’s not excellent in a shrinking wage cap surroundings, although it may be managed. However the greater situation could be the void buying and selling Stafford would go away – one which, given how tough it’s to dwell in No Man’s Quarterback Land within the NFL, can solely rightfully be crammed by discovering a successor within the draft.

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford on the sideline throughout the 48-17 loss to the New York Jets on Monday, Sept. 10, 2018, at Ford Subject in Detroit.

Getting into Sunday, the Lions mission to have the ninth decide within the 2021 draft, which leaves them in no place – even when they purchase an additional first-round decide by buying and selling Stafford – to take high quarterback prospects Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields.

The 2 worst groups within the NFL this season, the New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars, appear locked into taking quarterbacks with the highest two picks, and the Lions shall be jockeying with a number of different quarterback-needy groups – Washington, the Carolina Panthers and perhaps the Atlanta Falcons – for draft place.

Shifting on from Stafford would have been simpler final yr, when the Lions had the third decide of the draft and their selection of future stars Justin Herbert or Tua Tagovailoa. They handed on each, and now should wait their flip to assault the place.

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BYU’s Zach Wilson, North Dakota State’s Trey Lance and Florida’s Kyle Trask are all first-round potentialities, however none has the star high quality of Lawrence or Fields, and none is assured to be on the board at any time when the Lions decide.

BYU quarterback Zach Wilson.

That’s problematic in that if the Lions need to commerce Stafford – or if Stafford asks for a commerce in hopes of discovering a greater scenario – the best time to take action could be in the beginning of free company in March.

Preserving Stafford and drafting a younger quarterback is perhaps the best choice, a la the Inexperienced Bay Packers and Jordan Love final spring, although that may take a brand new coach able to dealing with all of the exhausting emotions it could trigger.

Stafford is an effective participant and an above common quarterback. He’s gifted and difficult, although after 12 seasons in Detroit, his accidents are beginning to mount and he understandably appears beat down. To Orlovsky’s level, maybe a change of surroundings would assist him create the legacy he needs for himself on the sector.

For now, Stafford appears destined to go down as a quarterback ok to get three coaches fired, and I don’t write that to insinuate he was behind the undoings of Patricia, Jim Caldwell or Jim Schwartz.

On this league, although, groups are searching for a quarterback till they discover one, and as soon as they really feel they’ve one, they begin the continual technique of searching for the appropriate coach or GM.

Stafford is nice sufficient to be that man for many groups on this league, like Philip Rivers was with the Chargers for 16 years or Matt Ryan is with the Atlanta Falcons now.

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford meet after the Lions’ 13-10 win at Ford Subject, Sept. 15, 2019.

Like Rivers and Ryan, Stafford has reached the purpose of his profession the place it appears unlikely he’ll be capable to obtain the last word success, not less than in Detroit.

Lions proprietor Sheila Ford Hamp referred to as Stafford an “extraordinarily gifted younger man” and “powerful as nails” in her post-firing Zoom on Saturday, however she rightfully took a go on hitching the group’s wagon to him long-term.

“Effectively, since I’m not the coach, I’m in all probability not the appropriate individual to ask that query to,” she mentioned. “We’ll see what the brand new coach has to say.”

Any quarterback change will take buy-in from possession, and a soccer man in cost who is not afraid of the unknown.

Stafford has confirmed to be participant and a greater individual in Detroit, however for the following regime, that shouldn’t be sufficient.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Observe him on Twitter @davebirkett.

This text initially appeared on Detroit Free Press: Matthew Stafford’s future in flux as Detroit Lions await new path