Kyle Allen didn't get many opportunities to fill in for Jared Goff this season. However, with Allen's one-year deal with the Detroit Lions coming to an end, Mike Payton of A to Z Sports believes the Lions should look elsewhere.

While the Lions can look to resign Allen, Mike Payton has urged the Lions to consider Jacoby Brissett as Goff's backup.

"Brissett has experience with the new Lions offensive coordinator, Drew Petzing. He was with him in Arizona when Petzing was the Cardinals’ OC, and he was with him in Cleveland when Petzing was the Browns’ quarterbacks coach," wrote Payton.

The Lions hired Drew Petzing as their offensive coordinator following the 2025-26 season. Brissett worked with him in the 2025 season and threw for 3,366 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions in 14 games.

Jacoby Brissett also worked with Petzing in the Cleveland Browns, throwing for 2,608 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions in 16 games in the 2022 season.

He talked about how those were Brissett's best performances and added, "In Detroit, Brissett can give the Lions a reliable quarterback to fall back on if Jared Goff were to miss any time for any reason." The Brissett and Petzing angle can benefit the Lions, but the only problem is that the Cardinals' QB is not a free agent.

The Cardinals might be looking to cut him off because his cap hit goes from just over $5 million in 2025 to just over $9 million in 2026. If the Detroit Lions do sign him, they will have very premium insurance for Jared Goff that will only help them.

The Detroit Lions Need to Address a Jared Goff Issue

Jared Goff signed a four-year, $212 million contract extension with the Detroit Lions in 2024, keeping him under contract through the 2028 season. The problem is that his contract carries a massive salary cap hit in 2026 (around $65-70 million).

If the Lions go with that, it would definitely limit their ability to sign or retain other key players for the 2026 season. Keep in mind that currently projected to be $8.5 million over the cap. So they have to restructure the deal, and that's very simple.

Goff has a $55 million salary. The Lions can turn that salary into a signing bonus via a simple restructure. The NFL allows the teams to restructure as much of a player’s salary as they want. The condition is that the veteran's salary minimum remains; for Goff, that’s $1.3 million.

This restructure would include a $5 million base salary and $14.6 million signing bonus proration from his previous bonus. It would also include a $10 million new signing bonus. That would bring his total 2026 cap hit down to approximately $29.6 million.

The remaining $40 million would add $10 million to each of his 2027 and 2028 seasons. It would automatically hit for $20 million in dead cap when his contract expires in 2029.

You can read more on the Detroit Lions Community.

Written by

Reyansh Dubey

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi