We looked at a possible exchange for Matt Ryan. We looked at a possible exchange for Aaron Rodgers.
Now let’s do Matthew Stafford, the one who’s really available.
Stafford and the Lions agreed to “separate from each other” on Saturday. Which means that Lions want to rebuild and Stafford doesn’t, so they agreed to send him out of town. And the 49ers should absolutely chase him.
Teams do not normally switch franchise defenders to teams playing in the same conference. But, as I wrote above, Lions are rebuilding themselves – that’s why they gave new coach Dan Campbell a six-year contract. They hope to lose. They are not concerned about having to compete against Stafford in an NFC championship because Lions are not going to play in one anytime soon.
Which means that Lions will exchange Stafford for the highest bid, which may be the 49ers. They could send Detroit the 12th choice in the next draft.
But the Broncos could send Detroit the ninth pick to Stafford, because they need a quarterback. And the Panthers could send Detroit the eighth choice, because they also need a quarterback.
The 49ers could have a little competition for Stafford.
They may have to trade a choice of the first round and a choice of the second round for Detroit for Stafford. Or two choices in the first round. Or two first rounds and a third. Or first two rounds and a player. Who knows? Funny things happen during bidding wars.
49ers must not exchange more than one first round choice for Stafford. And even that first round would be rich for a quarterback who turns 33 in February and has never won a playoff game in the NFL.
I hope the 49ers will leave some other team overbid by Stafford services.