The Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams are completing a blockbuster trade involving Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff.
Last week, reports indicated that the Detroit Lions and Matthew Stafford agreed to mutually part ways. This came as a huge shock, considering Stafford was part of the Lions organization since 2009. On Saturday, the buzz was that the Lions would ship Stafford to a new team before Super Bowl 55. As it turns out, a trade was completed hours later, and it’s a blockbuster.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Lions are trading Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for two first-round picks, a third-round pick and … quarterback Jared Goff! That’s right, we have a trade between two first overall picks!
Rams going all-in on Stafford
The swap between teams was far from random. New Lions general manager Brad Holmes worked with the Rams as their director of college scouting under Les Snead. With Stafford demanding a trade out of Detroit and Los Angeles non-committal on Goff as their starter, the two parties worked out a deal.
After signing Goff to a massive four-year, $134 million contract extension following their Super Bowl 53 loss to the New England Patriots, the Rams didn’t exactly get what they paid for. In 2019, Goff threw for 4,638 yards, 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in 16 regular-season games. 2020 wasn’t much better, as he accumulated 3,952 passing yards, 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. That wasn’t the production the Rams were expecting to get from the 2016 first overall pick. Hence the trade to get Goff’s contract off the books ($43 million fully guaranteed in next two years), which the Lions are now on the hook for.
Stafford played in all 16 games this past season, where he completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 4,084 yards, 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Stafford didn’t get much help, as his supporting cast dealt with injuries and his offensive line allowed him to get sacked 38 times.
Now, Stafford is joining a quarterback’s dream in where else but Hollywood. Stafford now has Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods and Tyler Higbee to target in the passing game, and he inherits an offensive line that only allowed 25 sacks this past regular season. No doubt Stafford has a huge smile on his face right now.
The Rams get their quarterback in hopes of him bringing them back to Super Bowl contention, while the Lions get much-needed draft capital. This is the closest we’ll get to an NBA-style trade in the NFL, but that could change if the Houston Texans decide to move on from Deshaun Watson. Let the offseason games begin!