Wow! A blockbuster deal before the Super Bowl is even played. Is this a sign for a wild free agency period to come? Matthew Stafford is packing his bags and heading to Los Angeles in exchange for Jared Goff and a whole lotta picks. Stafford will get his shot with a good team for the first time in his NFL career. The Los Angeles Rams do not like selecting in the first round anyways, so this is a win for LA. Goff will be tested to prove himself in a city where losing is the norm but expectations are always high. The Detroit Lions also pick up some valuable draft stock during their rebuild process. This appears to be a very strong trade for both sides, but only time will tell. The one guarantee from this trade is the quarterback market is going to be spicy, which affects about half the teams in the NFL.
The Rams are two years removed from their Super Bowl run, and continue to be in win-now mode. With Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald locking down the defense for the near future, the offensive needed a revamping after a frustrating year from Goff. The Rams certainly made a splash trading their once franchise quarterback for veteran Stafford. Although a lot of draft capital was given up, this was necessary in getting the Lions to take on Goff’s contract. This situation feels all too familiar, although I think Carson Wentz has a little more trade value than Goff. Regardless, the Rams made the first shockwave of the 2021 off-season.
(Image: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
Rams reaction – “Jared will forever hold a special place in my heart after beating the Saints in the Super dome and leading us to the super bowl. But he’s become a liability and so we turn to Matthew Stafford, who is hungry for victory after so many terrible years with the terrible Lions. I will continue to support Jared and wish him the best, but we are hunting championships.” – Friend and Rams fan Jordan Cozart.
The Lions are awful and have been since I can remember. It took Charlie Batch, Joey Harrington, Jon Kitna, Dan Orlovsky, Daunte Culpepper, Shaun Hill, and Drew Stanton for the Lions to find their franchise quarterback in Stafford. Year-in, year-out, Stafford was never the scapegoat amongst Lions fans, so finally setting him free was a big day in Detroit. If only Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson were so lucky. With Stafford jet-setting to LA, this is the official rebuild of the Lions. New management, new coaching, new quarterback, and a handful of additional draft picks to see if Detroit can avoid being the same old Lions.
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(Image: Leon Halip/Getty Images
Lions reaction – “Depends on how stupid we are with the draft picks.” – Friend and Lions fan Thomas Craig. Spoken like a true Lions fan already setting realistic expectations.
This takes us to our beloved Eagles. Although the Eagles were not involved in the trade, this has huge implications if they elect to move on from Wentz. Between this trade and the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes, Eagles should really do their homework on this quarterback situation. As previously mentioned, Wentz’s trade value is greater than Goff’s was, but the Eagles will find themselves in a similar situation. Coming off the notably horrible season, teams will be looking for a discount in order to take on Wentz’s contract. Offering Wentz at a markdown would be a huge mistake, but the break-up unfortunately needs to happen. I believe Coach Nick Sirianni being noncommittal about the starting quarterback heading into 2021 is only going to make Wentz more unhappy. If he didn’t enjoy the media circus last year during his benching, its only going to get worse each day of the off-season. Thinking about seeing Wentz in anything but midnight green Hurts, but for the sake of his career, I hope it happens. The obvious fairytale ending is in Indianapolis, especially with Phillip Rivers announcing his retirement. If the Eagles could secure a couple high picks from the Colts for Wentz, I think it would be a win all around. We will just have to wait and see how Howie Roseman fumbles this situation.
(Featured Image: ESPN)
