1.) Malik Willis’ Rookie Contract

The best chance for any team to reach the Super Bowl is when the quarterback is playing on a team friendly deal, or in other words a rookie contract. When an NFL team rewards a quarterback with a rich contract extension, it always equals out to less money to build the rest of the roster. As we all know football is the ULTIMATE team sport. Tom Brady (7 Super Bowl Rings) is notorious for taking less money in effort to fill out the rest of the roster with quality players. Drafting Malik Willis already puts the Lions in a cap friendly situation where they can then afford to sign high level players at other positions. No NFL team has ever won a Super Bowl while paying any one player more than 13% of their available cap.

  2.) Jared Goff Becomes A Trade Asset

In a scenario where the Detroit Lions draft Malik Willis, Jared Goff then becomes a trade asset for the team. Especially in modern day NFL where teams have no shame in making a move to find a gun slinger to lead their “readymade team”. We’ve seen quite the quarterback carousel with household names like Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan, DeshaunWatson, Russell Wilson, Mitch Trubisky, & Carson Wentz change names on the front of their jersey’s. With Malik Willis waiting in the wing, Goff immediately enters that market following the 2022 season. And not only can the Lions land GM Brad Holmes extra draft capitol, but they would also clear $20 million dollars in cap space for the team to spend elsewhere.

  3.) Maximizing the Lions Draft Capital

Many Detroit Lions fans have expressed their belief in GM Brad Holmes after his seemingly successful 2021 draft class. However The anti Malik Willis camp has repeatedly used the argument that the Detroit Lions can “Use their extra draft capital to trade up and grab a QB in the 2023 draft class.” There are multiple issues with this statement. One being, you can’t guarantee that the teams in the top position of next years draft aren’t going to want/need a QB. I’d also question why would you want to limit the amount of picks a GM like Brad Holmes can make at the top of a draft. If you believe he’s damn good at his job, wouldn’t you want him to have more picks available to fill out the team? If the Detroit Lions draft Malik Willis at #2 they will be able to do just that.

  4.) Grooming A Successful Quarterback

The largest knock on Malik Willis is that he’s not a complete product. In most draft conversations with scouts like Woodward Sports’ own Scott Bischoff, he has been tethered to phrases like “talented but raw”. Fortunately, the Detroit Lions are in a position with Jared Goff where they can sit the young quarterback in his first year and fine tune the things he can use some work on. This has been the case in many successful scenarios with QB’s such as Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Lamar Jackson, & more. There are more Super Bowl’s and MVP’s in that short list than the total number of first year starters currently in the NFL.

  5.) Malik Willis’ Undeniable Talent

Malik Willis has undeniable talent and traits you just can’t teach quarterbacks at any level. His speed on the field has liken him to that of a Michael Vick, his frame is that of a running back’s, and his arm strength can rival any top prospect in any draft class.

The Detroit Lions should take a swing on Malik Willis. They have the cushion of multiple draft picks with a damn good GM to fall on. If he pans out the result could be FRANCHISE CHANGING! And besides you’re still not paying him as much as Chase Daniels…

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Also check out the Woodward Heavyweights Podcast

Check out Kory Woods’ take on Malik Willis here.

Follow Eazy on Twitter for more Detroit Sports Content

Also check out the Woodward Heavyweights Podcast