Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is heading to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for quarterback Jared Goff and a multitude of draft choices, ESPN sources told Adam Schefter late on Saturday.
Lions will receive a choice of the third round in 2021, a choice of the first round in 2022 and a choice of the first round in 2023, in exchange for the previous No. 1 choices overall.
Following trade news, the Rams’ Super Bowl odds for the 2021 season went from +1800 to +1500 in the Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill.
It is the first major change made by the new Lions general manager, Brad Holmes, who was hired earlier this month at Rams, where he was the scouting director of the college. He said during his introductory press conference that he wanted to form the team through the draft. Now he will get extra capital to do that.
Stafford said that after Detroit’s last game in the 2020 season, he didn’t want to go into hypothetical situations when asked if he thought it was his last game with Lions.
“I have two years left in my business here,” said Stafford. “There is a lot to discuss. Keep it between my family and me and everything, but we’ll find that out on another date, I’m sure.”
He said he would look back on the season, spend time with his family and then find out what he hoped for his future.
Stafford approached Lions team president Rod Wood shortly after the season ended and mentioned that a trade-off could be better for the franchise and the defender. Detroit considered the idea, but decided to postpone the final decisions until the team hired its new general manager and head coach.
Lions informed candidates about the possibility of Stafford being negotiated during the interview process and after Detroit hired Holmes and new coach Dan Campbell. Lions bosses, along with Holmes and Campbell, had another conversation on January 21. The team and the defender decided it was better to seek an exchange.
A source said at the time that Lions would seek at least “fair market value” for Stafford, who has become the face of the franchise since Calvin Johnson’s retirement after the 2015 season.
Stafford will leave Detroit as the team’s all-time leader in all passing categories. He is number 16 of all time in NFL pass yards (45,109) and pass touchdowns (282), number 18 in attempts (6,224) and number 14 in submissions (3,898). His career passer rating of 89.9 is 21st at all times and his 144 interceptions are tied at 66th position of all time with Joe Flacco and Steve Bartkowski.
He is number 4 of all time in passing game passes (273.4) behind only Patrick Mahomes, Drew Brees and Andrew Luck, he is the second of all time behind Luck in attempts per game (37.7 ) and fourth in conclusions per game (23.6) behind Brees, Mahomes and Matt Ryan.
Stafford made it to the league as the No. 1 overall pick in Georgia’s 2009 draft and immediately became Detroit’s titleholder. Injuries, including a separate shoulder, hindered his first two seasons in the NFL, but he started playing just 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 fractured bones in his back, it ended a sequence of 136 consecutive matches – at the time the sixth longest consecutive straight for a quarterback in NFL history.
“Matthew Stafford is as tough as he can be. He is a big competitor,” said former Lions offensive coordinator and interim coach Darrell Bevell in December. “I know he will want to be there with his team, so it will have to be very drastic for him not to be there.”
Stafford has dealt with a number of illnesses over the years, including injuries to his ribs, ankle and right thumb last season. He also played in 2018 with back fractures and a PIP dislocation of the throwing hand middle finger in 2016, among other things.
Although Lions have never won NFC North with Stafford as a defender, he has kept them largely competitive in the past decade as the team’s first choice after the 0-16 season in 2008. Stafford has had eight seasons of 4,000 yards or more passing and one season of 5,038 yards in 2011, when he also made 41 touchdowns, his career record.
Stafford has launched at least 20 touchdowns in all seasons of his career – and at least 10 interceptions as well.
He leaves Detroit as the team’s best defender in the Super Bowl era. The Lions are now in a position to try to replace him with draft, free agency or a combination of both with Campbell, offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn and defender coach Mark Brunell in charge of that player’s development.