Detroit Lions principal owner Sheila Ford Hamp made sweeping changes Saturday, firing general manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia with her 4-7 team in last place in the NFC North.
The Lions also will have to make a decision this offseason on franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford’s future, but Hamp says that determination will be made by whoever is hired to fill those vacancies.
“Well, since I’m not the coach, I’m probably not the right person to ask that question to,” Ford Hamp said Saturday, according to the Detroit Free Press. “We’ll see what the new coach has to say.”
The 32-year-old Stafford has two years remaining on the five-year $135 million contract extension ($92 million guaranteed) he signed in 2017. Slightly more than $19 million of his $33 million cap hit for next season would be dead money on the salary cap if he is traded.
Former teammate Dan Orlovsky, now an ESPN analyst, believes the time has arrived for the Lions to consider making a quarterback change.
“Real next impactful move is full start over and move on from Stafford,” Orlovsky tweeted Saturday. “It’s time from both the organization standpoint and the player’s position, as well. It didn’t work out.”
Stafford is 17th on the NFL’s all-time list with 43,901 passing yards, but the Lions have made the playoffs just three times with no postseason wins in 12 seasons since selecting him with the first overall pick in the 2009 draft.
The Lions had the No. 3 overall pick in 2020, but they passed on quarterbacks Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa to select Ohio State cornerback Jeff Okudah.
