On New Year’s Day, the Detroit Lions announced they had signed former Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook to a Reserve-Futures deal.
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According to Lions’ general manager Bob Quinn, Cook is a player who he has had his eye on for much of the 2018 season.
From Detroit Free Press:
“Obviously, he’s a local product,” Quinn said last week. “Had a pretty decent grade on him coming out of college that year. Didn’t succeed in Oakland. We saw him up live and personal at those joint practices, and that’s really where I kind of said, ‘Oh yeah, Connor Cook’s here.’ And you sit there and watch practice, and he made some really good throws for a couple of those practices and played decent against us in the game.”
As it stands, with current backup Matt Cassel set to become a free agent (though it’s possible he could return), Cook could be slotted in as the backup QB for Matthew Stafford in 2019.
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But according to a report from Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, the Lions first made an offer to former Michigan quarterback Jake Rudock before signing Cook. An offer Rudock turned down.
“Jake Rudock, who spent the entire season on the Lions’ practice squad, has likely played his last down in Detroit — the Lions opted to sign Cook to a futures deal after Rudock declined an offer to return — but the Lions could draft or sign a rookie as well.”
With just Stafford and Cook, you can bet Bob Quinn will be looking for another QB via free agency or the NFL Draft as he likes to have three quarterbacks on his roster.
BONUS CONTENT:
GM Bob Quinn: Team is tougher since I took over
Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn recently spoke to media members and stated his belief that the team is tougher to play against since he took the reigns in January of 2016.
During his first two years as GM, the Lions finished 9-7 both times with average offensive and defensive numbers. Though the defense remained average during head coach Matt Patricia’s first year, the offense took a dip in efficiency, ranking 25th overall in scoring.
But Quinn is choosing to look more at the intangibles rather than the hard numbers.
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