Raise your hand if you saw him coming. Following last night’s news that the Lions defender Matthew Stafford would be welcome to a transaction at the Rams, now we hear that Los Angeles is shopping around their signal caller. Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic reports that the Rams had “multi-team exploratory discussions” about Jared Goff trade.
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From a financial perspective, Goff trading is easier said than done. As Rodrigue explains, the Rams would be stuck with $ 22.2 million in dead money if they changed the former first general election. However, a transaction would be more enjoyable if it took place after June 1, as the Rams would be left with only $ 6.8 million in dead money (plus another $ 15.4 million in dead capital in 2022). As our own Sam Robinson pointed out last night, Goff’s release is also unrealistic. The quarterback’s $ 134 million four-year contract guarantees run through 2022, and the organization doesn’t have an easy contract in that contract until 2023. While Stafford has base salaries of just $ 9.5 million and 12 million. , $ 5 million over the next two years, Goff’s contract certainly complicates any potential transaction.
After winning Pro Bowl knots in his secondary and junior years (including a 2018 campaign that helped the Rams to a Super Bowl loss), Goff has risen in the past two years. He threw 16 career interceptions in 2019, and the 20 passing touchdowns in 2020 was the lowest total since the beginning of his year (when he started just seven games). For comparison, Stafford threw less than 20 touchdowns once in 2011 and came during a 2019 campaign in which he compiled 19 passing touchdowns in just eight games.
As Sam, Rams’ head coach, remarked last night Sean McVay and GM The Snead have recently made comments indicating that Goff’s status is less certain. Rodrigue also notes that there is a link between the Rams’ offices and the Lions; the new Lions GM Fir Holmes he previously served as Rams’ director of university research. Now, that doesn’t mean that any Goff transaction would necessarily involve lions; given Detroit’s apparent desire to restart, it doesn’t look like Goff would be a match in any hypothetical Stafford-to-Los Angeles deal. However, the connection between the front desks is too obvious to ignore.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.