Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

The New England Patriots have arguably the best quarterback in the game in four-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, but that didn't stop them from taking a backup signal caller early in the 2014 draft.

Or in the 2011 draft.

Or in 2008.

The Detroit Lions won't be spending a second-round pick on a quarterback this year, like the Patriots did with Jimmy Garoppolo two springs ago, but there's a good chance they'll take one at some point in the seven rounds.

New Lions general manager Bob Quinn, who spent 16 years with the Patriots, explained his philosophy when it comes to drafting and developing quarterbacks Thursday at the team's Member Summit at Ford Field.

"I think it’s really good football business to acquire a young quarterback every year or every other year," Quinn said. "There’s such a value in the position and nowadays in college football there’s a lot of spread offenses, which means it’s a lot different than pro football. So it takes these young quarterbacks time to develop. So if you can add a young quarterback every year or every other year to your roster, it’s good football business in my mind. So you have time to develop them, either on the practice squad or as a backup, before eventually them having to play in a game."

The Lions have not drafted a quarterback since they took Matthew Stafford with the first pick of the 2009 draft, and seven years later he's firmly entrenched as the team's starter.

Dan Orlovsky re-signed for one year earlier this off-season, and the Lions don't currently have a third quarterback on their roster and aren't expected to re-sign practice squad quarterback Ricky Stanzi.

They have, however, shown interest in a slew of late-round/priority free agent type quarterbacks in the draft process, working out or meeting with Michigan's Jake Rudock, Stanford's Kevin Hogan and UMass' Blake Frohnapfel, among others.

Lions coach Jim Caldwell said, beyond the obvious physical attributes like arm strength and size, he values "the intelligence portion" in a quarterback because of the complexities of the NFL game and the Lions' offense.

"They have to be able to certainly handle a lot from an intellectual standpoint, particularly in our offense," Caldwell said. "It’s not only just dropping back, throwing the ball and just turning and handing the ball off. You have to also make checks at the line scrimmage, adjust the protections, and do that not only methodically but in a nanosecond. So it takes a special individual, so we’re searching for the kind of people that can come in and compete."

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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