Skip Bayless Feels Tom Brady Could Start as Lions’ Starting Quarterback Over Jared Goff in 2026

Skip Bayless suggested that the Lions would have a stronger postseason run with Tom Brady as their quarterback instead of Jared Goff.

Skip Bayless Feels Tom Brady Could Start as Lions’ Starting Quarterback Over Jared Goff in 2026

Tom Brady and Jared Goff (Image via IMAGO)

In Short
  • Skip Bayless suggested that Tom Brady could outperform Jared Goff as the Lions' starting quarterback in 2026.
  • Goff led the Lions to an NFC North title in 2023 and a franchise record 15 wins in 2024.
  • Despite Goff's success, the Lions missed the playoffs in 2025 with a 9-8 record.

The Detroit Lions acquired Jared Goff in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams that saw Matthew Stafford go the other way. After a tough first year, winning only three games, Goff secured the starting quarterback role by delivering several game-winning performances.

In 2023, Goff led the Lions to a maiden NFC North trophy and repeated the same in 2024. The Lions won a franchise record 15 games in 2024, with Goff throwing for 4629 yards, 37 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.

The 2025 season did not go as expected, as the team finished with a record of 9-8 and missed the playoffs. However, Goff still ruled the charts by completing 393 passes for 4564 yards, 34 touchdowns, and just 8 interceptions.

Despite Goff’s impressive stats, Skip Bayless completely dismissed him during a recent segment on the Arena Gridiron show. The veteran sports analyst claimed that an almost 49-year-old Tom Brady would perform better and might even lead the Lions to a Super Bowl victory if he were their quarterback instead of Goff.

I respect Jared Goff, but Tom [Brady] once beat him… in the Super Bowl head to head. I think Detroit would go further in the postseason with Tom at quarterback over Jared Goff.

Skip Bayless said

The other quarterbacks whom Bayless feels Brady will start over are Tyler Shough at the New Orleans Saints and Tua Tagovailoa at the Atlanta Falcons. On the other hand, Bayless gives the edge to Jalen Hurts as the better quarterback right now over the seven-time Super Bowl champion.

Brady recently admitted he contacted the NFL to get permission to come out of retirement, but his request was denied.

Analyst predicts whether the Lions will draft Jared Goff’s successor

There’s no question that Goff, at 31, is entering his prime and has several great years ahead of him. He signed a four-year extension that included $170 million guaranteed and could be worth up to $212 million in the spring of 2024. So, he is not going anywhere soon unless something major takes place.

Skip Bayless Feels Tom Brady Could Start as Lions' Starting Quarterback Over Jared Goff in 2026
Jared Goff (Image via IMAGO)

Then again, drafting an experimental quarterback in the second round or drafting down further does make sense. Detroit’s rivals, the Green Bay Packers, pioneered this strategy, which led them to find standout quarterbacks like Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, and Jordan Love.

In his latest mailbag, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated mentioned that the Lions hold two picks within the top 117.

[Jared] Goff has a market quarterback deal and [left tackle] Penei Sewell, [wide receiver] Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, [pass-rusher] Aidan Hutchinson, [defensive tackle] Alim McNeill and [safety] Kerby Joseph are already on big second deals, and 2023 draftees [running back] Jahmyr Gibbs, [tight end] Sam LaPorta, [safety] Brian Branch and [linebacker] Jack Campbell are now eligible for new contracts. And the champagne problem is that the looming bottleneck of contracts means having to find cheap talent through the draft to fill in around your core.

Albert Breer wrote

Drafting a quarterback will surprise a lot of mock draft specialists. Most believe that the Lions will strengthen the offensive line and add better protection for Goff.

The Lions, for example, have work to do on the offensive line… It’d stand to reason resources should go there, rather than to find a developmental quarterback [with just two picks in the top 100].

With limited cap space, general manager Brad Holmes hasn’t had much flexibility to bring in players from free agency. Keeping that in mind, the Lions made some changes to the Pro Bowler’s contract by converting $40 million of his base salary into a signing bonus in order to free up $32 million in cap space for the upcoming season. This increased the Lions’ cap space roughly between $23.7 to $37 million.

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