In 2020, the Los Angeles Rams signed an undrafted free agent out of Virginia to help them out. The UFA backed up now Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff that year. Last Friday that UFA won the UFL MVP award and then led the Michigan Panthers to the UFL Championship game on Saturday.
I'm of course referring to Bryce Perkins. He is coming off a huge season in the UFL, where is is widely looked at as the league's next Jake Bates success story of a player who wowed in the spring league and then made an NFL roster.
Perkins is going to get looks from NFL teams. There is no doubt that he will be on a roster this summer for training camp. Staying in Detroit might be his best shot to secure a role on a 53-man roster and be a QB2, in our opinion.
The reports coming out of OTAs show that Hedon Hooker is still dealing with a lot of the struggles he had last year. Things like throwing the deep ball and holding on to the ball too long, and taking a sack. Kyle Allen has not looked much better. He's also had struggles finding his accuracy.
Yes, it's OTAs, but there has been a history of these issues. Bringing in extra competition wouldn't be bad, and it wouldn't be something the Lions have never done. They had four quarterbacks competing last year.
Perkins has some playing experience in the NFL. Mostly in the preseason, but he's shown that he's playing the best ball of his pro career at this point, and that's why he can compete. Even if he just winds up on the practice squad, he's a good option to have around.
The big thing that's going to give Perkins trouble is that he's already 28, but the expectations for Perkins are not that he's going to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, but someone who can get a few more years in the league as a backup.
Perhaps his connection with Goff and the Lions' connections in the Panthers front office could help pull this off.
