Perhaps the San Francisco 49ers were not as “inclined” to quarterback Matthew Stafford as everyone imagined. At least, that’s what Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported in his last article.

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

On Saturday night, Stafford fulfilled his wish. Detroit Lions left the defender for the Rams in exchange for two future choices in the first round, a third round and Jared Goff. It looked like a victory for the quarterback who would soon turn 33. But at least part of the offer was supposed to be for attracting Lions to accept Goff’s salary. The result was a difficult offer to win. Los Angeles was clearly all-in at Stafford and eager to send Goff and his huge contract out of Southern California.

How far did the conversations between 49ers and Lions go? Not far, it seems. Breer reports that the two sides had some discussions in Mobile, Alabama, leading to the Senior Bowl, but that was all – conversations. Nothing was about to become official, despite what Twitter rumors and speculation made everyone believe.

San Francisco planned to continue discussions with Detroit after the weekend, but then things heated up on Saturday and Lions reached out to assess the 49ers’ interest.

“My feeling is that 12th choice would never be offered,” wrote Breer, which corresponds to what we heard last week – that the 49ers were doing everything they could to keep the 12th overall choice out of the game. Of course, it always came with the proviso that things can change quickly.

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

Breer also detailed what other teams were offering the Lions to Stafford.

  • The Carolina Panthers offered the 8th overall choice in this year’s draft plus a later choice.
  • The Washington Football Team was offering general choice No. 19 with a choice in the third round.
  • The Colts never offered their first round, but discussed packs of picks and a player.
  • The Denver Broncos discussed an exchange of choice with Lions that would have equaled a final choice in the first round. It didn’t go anywhere.
  • The New England Patriots argued about packaging a second-round pick with a player, but it was not on Stafford’s list of favorite destinations.
  • The negotiations with the Chicago Bears and the New York Jets did not go far.