After years of poor play, the Detroit Lions have finally cut their losses in quarterback Joey Harrington. Lions' new head coach Rod Marinelli was discreet when asked about the decision.

"I've decided to move in a different direction with the quarterback," he said.

Harrington was the third overall pick in the 2002 draft, but never even came close to his expectations, even after the organization gave him all the help he needed. For the past three years, the Lions have taken a wide receiver in the first round of the draft. As a starter though, Harrington was only 18-37. He threw for more interceptions(62) than touchdowns(60) during his career with the Lions.

The leading candidates to replace Harrington are Jon Kitna and Josh McCown, both of whom signed with the Lions as free agents recently. The Lions also have Shaun King and Dan Orlovsky on their rosters, although they will both be backups or be released.

The release comes as somewhat of a surprise, since Marinelli seemed to indicate last month that Harrington would be "the guy" heading into the 2006 season. Harrington would have been due a roster bonus of $4 million on June 15th, and it's doubtful the Lions will try to bring him back.

Now it'll be up to Kitna or McCown to turn around a position that has been a weak spot for the Lions over the years. Kitna showed a lot of promise with the Cincinnati Bengals as a veteran, while the young McCown showed some signs of life as an Arizona Cardinals' quarterback.

With Mike Martz as the Lions' new offensive coordinator, it is believed that he wants to install the type of offense that he ran in St. Louis.

Right now, Kitna is probably the front runner. However, he realizes that three other guys will be gunning for his job.

"I never expected to come here and have the job handed to me," said Kitna.

If the Lions draft a quarterback, it probably will not be until the later rounds.