As the Lions prepare for Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the 49ers, Detroit wants one of its cornerstone pieces to be part of the team's foreseeable future.
Detroit is expected to have contract extension talks with quarterback Jared Goff this offseason, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday on NFL GameDay Morning, per sources informed of the situation.
The deal is expected to make Goff one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league, Rapoport added.
Goff has had one of the best seasons of his career, leading the Lions to a 12-5 record, an NFC North title (the team's first division title since 1993) and a chance to make his second Super Bowl appearance. The 29-year-old QB joined Hall of Famer Peyton Manning as the only QBs drafted No. 1 overall to win two-plus playoff games with multiple franchises, per NFL Research.
This season, Goff threw 30 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and finished with a career-best 67.3% completion percentage. Surrounding Goff with a talented young core with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs has paid dividends not only for Goff but for everyone involved in offensive coordinator Ben Johnson's offense.
Detroit's shift from playoff hopefuls to a Super Bowl contender began in the 2022 season. Head coach Dan Campbell's squad went 8-2 in its final 10 games and narrowly missed the postseason. The hot streak wasn't a fluke as evidenced by how Detroit began the 2023 season. Detroit started this season going 8-2 and proved to the league it was going to be playing football in late January.
Once considered a "bridge quarterback" after being traded by the Rams for Matthew Stafford, Goff has seemingly shut down that narrative and emerged as a franchise QB for the Lions.
Earlier in the season, general manager Brad Holmes said it was a "lazy" storyline and that he was "very proud" of Goff's play to begin the 2023 season. Now, with a trip to Super Bowl LVIII on the line in Sunday's road game against the 49ers, Holmes and the Lions view Goff as the long-term answer under center.
