Five years after making Jared Goff No. 1 in the draft, the Rams on Saturday switched from the Detroit Lions quarterback to quarterback Matthew Stafford, said a person with knowledge of the situation.
As part of the deal, the Rams also sent Lions a choice of the third round this year and two future choices of the first round, said the person who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the deal.
Stafford, who turns 33 on February 7, was the first choice in the 2009 draft. He was voted into the Pro Bowl once in 12 seasons and is 0-3 in three playoff games. Apart from receiver Calvin Johnson, however, Stafford never played with excess talent.
Stafford passed 45,109 yards and 282 touchdowns, with 144 interceptions. This season, he passed 4,084 yards and 26 touchdowns, with 10 interceptions.
Stafford has two years left on his contract and had a salary cap of $ 33 million in 2021 and $ 26 million in 2022, according to overthecap.com. Stafford and Lions owners agreed to negotiate with him.
Goff, 26, made the Pro Bowl twice and led Rams to three playoff appearances in four seasons with coach Sean McVay, reaching the Super Bowl in 2018.
Prior to the 2019 season, he signed a $ 134 million extension, with $ 110 million in guarantees. Since then, its production has fallen.
This season, he went through 20 touchdowns, the lowest level of his career, with 13 interceptions, with the Rams finishing 10-6. Goff missed the end of the season against the Arizona Cardinals while recovering from surgery on his right thumb. But the following week, despite Goff saying he was capable of playing, McVay started backing up John Wolford in an NFC wild-card game against the Seattle Seahawks.
After Wolford suffered a neck injury in the first quarter, Goff stepped off the bench and helped lead Rams to victory. Goff started the divisional round game against the Green Bay Packers and went through a touchdown in the 32-18 loss at the end of the season.
After the game, McVay said that Goff was the Rams defender, “now”, putting Goff’s future in doubt. Just over a week later, general manager Les Snead said that Goff was the Rams defender “right now”, indicating that the team was ready to move on.