Detroit Lions is trading Matthew Stafford to Los Angeles Rams for Jared Goff, sources say

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is going to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for quarterback Jared Goff and a multitude of draft picks, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter Saturday night.

The Lions will receive a third round pick in 2021, a first round pick in 2022 and a first round pick in 2023 in what is the first exchange of former No.1 overall pick in the common draft era (since 1967). The deal cannot be made official until the start of the new competition year on March 17.

Following trading news, the Rams Super Bowl odds for the 2021 season have risen from +1800 to +1500 at William Hill’s Caesars Sportsbook.

It is the first big step of the new Lions general manager Brad Holmes, who was hired earlier this month at the Rams, for whom he was the director of the university’s scouting squad. That was the role of Holmes when the Rams switched from the No. 15 roster to take Goff first overall in the 2016 NFL draft, making a splash in their return to LA after 21 seasons in St. Louis. The Rams will not make a new first-round roster until 2024.

A source told ESPN the Lions were interested in seven or eight teams offering first-round picks as compensation for Stafford. While the deal for Goff doesn’t necessarily prevent the Lions from taking a quarterback in this year’s draft, Goff told ESPN’s Jeff Darlington on Saturday night that he was talking to new Lions coach Dan Campbell, and that Campbell’s message Goff made it clear in the Lions’ plans for the future.

When asked after Detroit’s last game of the 2020 season if he thought it was his last game with the Lions, Stafford said he didn’t want to get into hypothetical situations. Shortly after the season ended, Stafford went to Lions team president Rod Wood and said a trade might be best for both sides.

Stafford, 32, will leave Detroit as the team’s leader in every passing category. He is No. 16 all-time in NFL passing yards (45,109) and passing touchdowns (282), No. 18 in tries (6,224), and No. 14 in completions (3,898). His career pass rating of 89.9 is No. 21 all time, and his 144 interceptions tie for No. 66 all time with Joe Flacco and Steve Bartkowski.

Stafford is No. 4 of all time in passing yards per game (273.4), behind only Patrick Mahomes, Drew Brees and Andrew Luck. He is also second all-time behind Luck in tries per game (37.7) and fourth in finishes per game (23.6) behind Brees, Mahomes and Matt Ryan.

Stafford entered the league as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft from Georgia and immediately became Detroit’s starter. Injuries, including a severed shoulder, hindered his first two seasons in the NFL, but he started all but eight games for Detroit since the start of the 2011 season.

When he had to miss the last eight games of the 2019 season due to broken bones in his back, a run of 136 consecutive starts came to an end – the sixth longest consecutive start series for a quarterback in NFL history. .

Stafford has dealt with a host of ailments over the years, including injuries to his ribs, ankle and right thumb last season. In 2018 he also played with fractures in his back and a proximal interphalangeal joint dislocation of the middle finger of his throwing hand in 2016.

Although the Lions never won the NFC North with Stafford as their quarterback, he kept them largely competitive for the past decade as the team’s first draft pick after Detroit’s 0-16 season in 2008. Stafford had passed eight seasons of 4,000 or more yards. and a 5,038-yard season in 2011, when he also threw a career-high 41 touchdowns. Stafford has thrown at least 20 touchdowns in every full season of his career – and at least 10 interceptions too.

Stafford has won only five of the 16 games against his new division opponents in the NFC West. Goff, meanwhile, has won four of the six against the NFC North.

Goff, who turned 26 in October, leaves LA after five seasons, including four under Rams coach Sean McVay, and with a record of 42-27. He made seven scoreless starts as a rookie under former coach Jeff Fisher, before the Rams hired McVay, who was known for his offensive acumen and ability to develop quarterbacks. McVay and Goff thrived in their first two seasons together, winning back-to-back division titles and an NFC Championship.

The Rams awarded Goff a $ 134 million four-year extension with $ 110 million guaranteed after leading the Rams to a Super Bowl LIII appearance. However, the attack never seemed the same after a 13-3 defeat to the New England Patriots in that Super Bowl, as the Rams fell from a top-scoring team to an average unit over the past two seasons.

Problems between Goff and McVay became apparent during the 2020 season despite a 10-6 record. After losing 23-20 to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 12, McVay publicly called out the quarterback for three turns and demanded that the problem improve. In the past two seasons, Goff was ranked second in the NFL with 38 sales.

McVay chose to start undeveloped free-agent backup John Wolford in a wildcard playoff game at the Seattle Seahawks, despite Goff telling his coach he would be ready to use his hand thumb 12 days away from surgery. play. Wolford had to leave that game in the first quarter due to a neck injury, and Goff, the only available backup, passed for 155 yards and a touchdown in the 30-20 win. After the game, Goff expressed his disappointment that he did not start.

A week later, in a division playoff with the Green Bay Packers, McVay was forced to start Goff with Wolford offside for his neck. Goff passed for 174 yards and a touchdown in a loss of 32-18.

When McVay was asked after the Packers game if Goff was his quarterback, he said, “Yeah, he’s our quarterback now.”

Earlier this week, Rams general manager Les Snead did not give a public vote of confidence for Goff when he was asked several times about the quarterback’s future with the Rams.

“Going on with Jared Goff, that’s… the money we’ve invested in him, that’s not easy to overcome,” said Snead, adding later that “anything can be done” in a hat-based system.