Former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jake Fromm is still waiting for his next NFL opportunity, and could find it with an NFC contender.
Fromm started his career with the Bills and filled an unusual role during his rookie season before being plucked off Buffalo’s practice squad by the New York Giants in his second year. Fromm is currently unsigned, but has been named a top candidate for the final vacant quarterback spot on the roster of the Detroit Lions.
Lions Want ‘Familiar’ Quarterback in No. 3 Role
The Lions already anointed another former Bills quarterback as the primary backup to starter Jared Goff. Kyle Allen won the summer competition against former third-round pick Hendon Hooker, with the Lions ultimately deciding to release Hooker.
The team has traditionally kept a third quarterback either on the roster or practice squad, and head coach Dan Campbell said they want to find someone they can trust.
“I would say that we’re looking for somebody that, if we need them, we know they can run the show,” Campbell said, via USA Today’s Lions Wire. “They can run the offense, they can process the information more than â can we find a guy to develop, you know, that’s unknown.”
Campbell added that the Lions might look to other quarterbacks who have spent time with them recently.
“I’d rather have a guy that–somebody that we are familiar with, or somebody you just know (that) they get in the game and they’re going to get you into the right play and be smart with the football,” he said.
As Jeff Risdon of Lions Wire noted, there are only three available quarterbacks who spent time in Detroit — Fromm, Jeff Driskel, and John Wolford. The team could look to add a quarterback currently on a practice squad, but that would require them to sign the player to the active roster for the first month of the season.
Fromm has bounced around the league as a depth quarterback but only appeared in three career games, all in 2021. He made two starts for the Giants in 2021 and completed 27-of-60 passes for 210 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
Fromm came into the league as a fifth-round draft pick of the Bills in 2020 but spent the pandemic season as a “quarantine” quarterback, practicing away from the rest of his teammates in case the team lost any other quarterbacks to illness.
Bills Held Their Own Quarterback Competition
The Bills held their own quarterback competition this summer, a rarity under head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane. Veteran Mitch Trubisky ultimately held onto the job, beating out former New York Jets and Miami Dolphins starter Mike White.
The Bills also brought back quarterback Shane Buechele for a practice squad role. Buechele had played on the practice squad in 2023 but suffered a season-ending neck injury last year and was released with an injury designation.
Though the Bills have been known to bring back former players regularly — including Trubisky, who returned last season after spending the 2021 season as Josh Allen’s backup — they did not bring back Fromm after he was poached from their practice squad in 2021.
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