What is clear after the news on Saturday night, after asking in the NFL offices: Matthew Stafford wants to be a winner. He doesn’t care about the statistics. He wants a chance to fight.
This is the crux of his switch request, which the Detroit Lions will honor by exploring options for the quarterback in the market. He turned 12 in Detroit. Did not work. This is normal for both parties to admit. And there has never been a cleaner time to do that, for three reasons.
Was: Stafford will be 33 next month (OK, maybe 40 in the Lions years) and there should be a few more prime seasons left.
Contract: Your business is reasonable by high-level quarterback standards. Stafford, which is eligible for a free agency in 2023, owes $ 53 million over the next two seasons. This is basically the same commitment that Tampa Bay made to Tom Brady in the off-season. The $ 10 million list bonus is due on the fifth day of the league year, which creates a kind of negotiation deadline. And the ceiling for the next two years is $ 33 million and $ 26 million, the first of which could be compensated by Lions by absorbing the remaining $ 10 million from the subscription bonus apportionment.
Compensation: Stafford will be expensive, but the consensus around the league is that it will not be outrageous. While Deshaun Watson could justify a number of choices in any Houston trade, Stafford is generally considered to be at the next level. And perhaps, with a new scene, Stafford’s game will reach a new stratosphere.
So, what would it take to get Stafford from the Lions? And which teams should be in the mix? That’s how it all comes together, based on calls made to executives across the league over the weekend.