Timelining: LA Rams trade Goff + Picks for Stafford now reality

Goff salary dump

For example, Sportsmockery correspondent Erik Lambert covers the Chicago Bears, claims that the Rams were eager to get Stafford, but could not do so without moving Goff off the books.  He speculates that the Rams would need the help of the Chicago Bears to land Stafford. In short, the Rams would have needed to send Goff and draft pick(s) to the Bears, the Bears would send picks to the Lions, and the Rams would send picks to the Lions. In return, the Rams would land Stafford.

In that scenario, the Rams could have been out from three to four first-round picks, several 2021 NFL draft picks, all to end up with Matthew Stafford. That ‘feels’ like the sort of package that would land the Rams a quarterback like Deshaun Watson, a quarterback who may be on the market in the coming months.

Goff was never coming back. But the Rams had options. In fact, simply dealing Goff for a day three draft pick would have been an option had the Rams not landed Stafford. The Rams needed to clear the air, start fresh, and reset everyone’s expectations about what constitutes good versus bad play at the quarterback position.

Quarterback Jared Goff was chosen by head coach Jeff Fisher and was on the team when head coach Sean McVay arrived.  I strongly believe that the head coach deserves to land the quarterback he wants, not the one he must use. Now, McVay has ‘his’ guy. The most curious aspect of it all? Matthew Stafford is by all intents and purposes just an older version of Jared Goff.

In the end, the Lions dealt their quarterback Matthew Stafford to the LA Rams.  And in the end, the LA Rams have given new Lions GM Brad Holmes a handsome dowry and an NFL veteran quarterback to bridge the gap to any new quarterback prospect. And oh, by the way, Jared Goff is a winner, both in the regular season and in the NFL Playoffs.

Everyone knows how the Tom Brady deal turned out for him with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Many expect similar results with Matthew Stafford joining the LA Rams. But keep an eye on the Detroit Lions. Adding QB Jared Goff to that team, with additional draft picks to use as firepower to build a roster around him, might be just what he needed to realize his full potential as well.