With each passing Lions loss that includes a subpar day from Matthew Stafford, the talk about trading the franchise quarterback gets a little louder.

It’s usually just talk, either from national media or fans or radio hosts, and it rarely dives into the sticky details about the contract terms and what the trade compensation might look like. But this week, it became a subject that people working in NFL front offices were willing to discuss.

ESPN released its annual poll of bold predictions from insiders around the league, and the list of 10 takes included two that pertain to the Lions: The first is that Detroit will trade Stafford. The second is that Jim Caldwell will be back in the NFL next season.

The nucleus of the argument to trade Stafford is that the Lions have too many roster holes to fill in time to make use of his once-record contract, and that dealing him could better allow the Lions to do that as well as to find a quarterback of Matt Patricia’s choosing.

“Patricia and [general manager Bob] Quinn both spent a long time in the Patriots' organization, where they watched Tom Brady very closely,” one insider told ESPN. “They are going to want somebody who prepares and manages the game more like Tom.”

Finding the next Tom Brady is much easier said than done, of course. The Lions are looking at a top-10 pick in next year’s draft that could be as high as No. 2, depending on how the games shake out in the final week of play. Teams that pick that high tend to at least have the discussion about selecting a quarterback given how hard it is to get back up there in future seasons.

The pickings will not be as plentiful as they were last year, when Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen all went in the top 10. Oregon’s Justin Herbert just announced that he’s returning to school next fall. The top options include Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins, if he goes pro; West Virginia’s Will Grier and Missouri’s Drew Lock.

“Patricia is going to say, ‘This is not the guy that is going to get me fired,’” another insider told ESPN.

These are just predictions, of course, and are meant to be bolder in nature. Last year’s list saw seven of the 10 come true, though they included some common-sense takes such as Patrick Mahomes becoming a starting quarterback and Bruce Arians becoming a broadcaster.

The predictions can come from just one or two insiders, and others might disagree with them, as is what happened with the Stafford one.

“I think the Lions would be absolutely foolish to trade Stafford,” an insider told ESPN. “They have never given him enough help. Even when he had good receiving weapons, there was no run game. This year, they traded Golden Tate despite still being in the playoff race.”

It would be a bold move for general manager Bob Quinn, who signed Stafford to a five-year, $135 million contract a year and a half ago. It was a deal that at the time was the biggest in NFL history, and since it just kicked in this year, it will carry a cap hit of $30 million for the Lions.

So Detroit would have to get enough in return to justify paying $10 million a year for the next three years to a quarterback not on the roster in addition to the price of a new one. And it would involve another team being willing to give up that kind of draft haul for a pricey quarterback who has struggled as much as Stafford has this year.

With one game to go, Stafford is on pace for his worst season since 2014 when it comes to yards, touchdowns, yards per attempt and quarterback rating. But a team could see that as much more of a function of the injuries that have taken place around him as well as the Tate trade.

On the Caldwell prediction, ESPN reported on Sunday that Caldwell was planning to return to the NFL next year and would be a candidate for head-coaching openings. This is the first year since he graduated college in 1977 that he hasn’t been on a college or pro staff, and though he is 63, his 62-50 career record between stints with the Lions and Colts could look appealing to teams, especially given how many openings are expected this year.