LA Rams may have won the battle, but the Detroit Lions just won the war

The Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl in 2021 with Matthew Stafford under center, but did the Detroit Lions still win the war? It may sound weird, and you may disagree, but did the Lions actually come out of this trade as winners?

Recently, Jared Goff signed a massive contract extension, locking him into Detroit for years to come:

The contract is worth $53 million per year, which ranks 2nd in the NFL only to Joe Burrow on a per-year basis. Further, the former Rams QB is now locked in for the Lions through the 2028 season, which would be his age-34 campaign. Before the 2021 NFL Season, the Rams sent Goff to the Lions in a package to land Matthew Stafford.

Stafford might be the slightly better QB, and the Rams did win a Super Bowl in Stafford's first season. Yes, that was amazing, and it made trading all of those first-round picks worth it, but for the long-term, it's clear that the Rams lost, if you will. Stafford is set to enter his age-36 season in the NFL. Goff is sent to enter his age-30 season.

Not only does Goff have six years of youth on Stafford, but he's locked into his own through the 2026 season, which would be his age-38 campaign. The Lions, simply put, have a much better long-term situation at QB, which is a huge advantage over the Rams, and it was the one downside of the Rams doing this deal.

Really, as soon as this coming offseason, LA may have to do intense work on bringing in a long-term option, but with the hit-rate of drafting QBs not being high, the Rams might just have to get lucky. Not only that, the Lions have an insanely talented young roster just littered with talent. The front office led by GM Brad Holmes, a former Rams executive, is proving to be the best in the NFL.

The Rams did win a Super Bowl, something the Lions didn't come close to doing with Matthew Stafford, but in winning that battle, they may have just lost the war.