Perhaps the San Francisco 49ers weren’t as “in” for quarterback Matthew Stafford as everyone assumed. At least, that’s what Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported in his latest feature film.

Stafford wanted to go to California. After all, his family has a home in Newport Beach, about 40 miles south of SoFi Stadium. According to Breer, the Los Angeles Rams have always been his destination of choice, followed by the 49ers and Indianapolis Colts.

Saturday night Stafford got his wish. The Detroit Lions exchanged the quarterback for the Rams in exchange for two future first-round picks, a third-rounder and Jared Goff. It seemed like a lunge for the upcoming 33-year-old quarterback. But at least part of the offer was reportedly to entice the Lions to take Goff’s salary. The result was an offer that was hard to beat. Los Angeles was clearly all in on Stafford and eager to send Goff and his massive contract out of Southern California.

How far have the talks between the 49ers and Lions come? Not far at all, it seems. Breer reports that the two sides had some discussions in Mobile, Alabama, leading up to the Senior Bowl, but that was all they were – talks. Nothing was about to go official, despite what the Twitter rumors and speculation led everyone to believe.

San Francisco planned to continue talks with Detroit after the weekend, but then it got warmer on Saturday and Lions reached out to gauge the 49ers’ interest.

“I have a feeling the 12th pick would never be offered,” Breer wrote, consistent with what we had all heard over the past week – that the 49ers were doing everything they could to keep the number 12 out of the game overall. Of course, that always came with the caveat that things could change quickly.

When Detroit reached out, things had clearly escalated beyond what the 49ers were comfortable with, and the team had no problem moving on from Stafford and moving on to Jimmy Garoppolo.

Breer also broke out what other teams were offering the Lions for Stafford.

  • The Carolina Panthers offered the # 8 overall pick in this year’s version plus a later pick.
  • The Washington Football Team offered the # 19 overall pick with a third round pick.
  • The Colts never offered their first-rounder, but did discuss packs of picks and a player.
  • The Denver Broncos discussed a pick trade with the Lions that would have equated with a late first round. That wasn’t going anywhere.
  • The New England Patriots discussed packing a second-round pick with a player, but were not on Stafford’s Favorite Destinations list.
  • Talks with the Chicago Bears and New York Jets didn’t get very far.