Streaky
Hates pre-snap motion
Doesn’t rollout well

Those are not awesome things.

From SI: MMQB: Inside the Trade Negotiations

…The Matthew Stafford sweepstakes lasted, in essence, seven days. And while the Lions certainly had the idea that they wanted it to happen quickly in the back of their minds—to get ahead of quarterbacks potentially flooding the market and bending the supply/demand curve, or Deshaun Watson turning Stafford into a consolation prize—there was no telling how quickly things would materialize.

They got their answer quickly, with interest rising fast in a quarterback that the NFL was resoundingly, if implicitly, endorsing as a star with the way the market for his services exploded.

Detroit, really, had been set up for this for a while. Stafford made his desires known to owner Sheila Ford Hamp and president Rod Wood the day after the season ended, and it was on the mind of the Lions brass as the group went through interviewing GM and coaching candidates. In fact, it was one area in which Holmes, who worked under Snead and helped evaluate Goff in 2016, distinguished himself.

In Holmes’s first interview with Detroit, he explained the process of picking Goff, and how the Rams had decided to take him over Carson Wentz five years ago. Back for a second interview, after being apprised of the situation with Stafford, rather that recoil, his excitement reverberated—not to move the team off Stafford, but for how he’d handle such a big-ticket situation, from getting value for the quarterback to finding his replacement.

Little did he know how soon all of it would come into play.

News of Stafford’s availability emerged two Saturdays ago, which is part of why the Lions figured dispatching Disner and Holmes to Mobile for the Senior Bowl—where they could meet with other teams—would be smart. The two came back late in the week with multiple teams willing to throw a first-round pick in the ring.

Word was that Stafford’s preferred destinations were, in order, the Rams, Niners and Colts. And while the Lions were always going to do what was best for the Lions (and Stafford didn’t have a no-trade clause to commandeer the process), they were also cognizant of what their former No. 1 pick wanted.

By the time things started to come to a boiling point, the Lions had an initial offer from the Rams (their 2022 first-rounder, Goff, and an additional pick) that wasn’t going to cut it. But it was that interest from the Rams—and that it became public on Friday night, via a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler—that prompted a frenzy to land Stafford. By Saturday, the market had crystallized.

• Both Washington and Carolina had offered their first-round picks and then some. The Panthers’ first-rounder is eighth (that wound up being the highest pick offered) and their proposal came with a later pick. Washington packaged a third-round pick with the 19th pick.

• The Colts discussed packages of picks and players, but never actually wound up offering their first-rounder, the 21st pick.

• The Niners talked to the Lions in Mobile, but at the time were a little lukewarm and never made an official offer. They’d planned to circle back with Detroit after the weekend, but when things escalated Saturday and the Lions called back, the price had gone beyond what they were willing to offer (in part because they’re fine going forward with Jimmy Garoppolo). My sense is the 12th pick was never going to be offered.

• The Broncos discussed a pick swap with the Lions that would have equated to a late first-round pick, but it wound up becoming clear to Denver that they weren’t playing in the neighborhood where this was going.

• The Patriots and Bears both checked in. New England was willing to package a second-rounder with a player to get Stafford, which, when added to the Patriots’ absence on a list of preferred destinations (something my buddy Tom Curran reported on Sunday) quickly eliminated Bill Belichick & Co. from the chase.

• And finally, late Friday, the Jets checked in. The Lions circled back with New York on Saturday, but talks didn’t go very far.

That gave the Lions more than a quarter of the NFL in on the Stafford Derby—again, indicating just what the NFL thinks of No. 9. It also gave Hamp, Wood and Disner the knowledge that they’d accomplish a goal of theirs by giving Holmes the ammo to do what’s at the heart of what got him into that GM chair, and that’s evaluating college players, maximizing draft picks and, ultimately, building a strong, younger roster as a result.

Anyway, by midday on Saturday, Washington and Carolina had emerged as the favorites to land Stafford, and the Lions came to the realization that a deal could be in the offing. But if they’d guessed at that point where Stafford was going, they’d have probably been wrong.

It’s been two weeks since the Rams were eliminated from the NFC playoffs in the divisional round, and the way the season ended left plenty for interpretation. Goff was injured in Week 16, missed the team’s Week 17 game, then came off the bench after John Wolford started in his place in the wild-card round. Snead and McVay declining to commit to Goff as their 2021 starter turned heads, for sure, and provided a clue.

While the Rams were fine going forward with Goff and Wolford as their quarterbacks, just two years after signing Goff to a four-year, $134 million extension, the team was also very open to taking advantage of the expected unprecedented quarterback movement to come.

This, really, is who the Rams have become since returning to L.A. five years ago. For better or worse, there’s been absolutely no fear to flip draft capital for established stars, a trend that actually started right after the team flipped a group of picks to move up in the draft and land Goff himself. And with uncertainty over whether Watson or others would be available later in the winter, the Rams homed in on Stafford.

But talking about it was always going to be a lot easier than pulling it off. The Rams’ deal with Goff was, for the most part, ironclad for the next two years—$43 million of the $54.3 million he’s due is fully guaranteed with no offset language (meaning his signing with another team offered no relief)—making what was necessary in getting Stafford (shedding Goff) complicated. In essence, absent finding a taker for the deal, cutting Goff before paying him the $54.3 million over the next two years would have meant paying out the $43 million.

That forced the Rams to be flexible with the Lions, who had the aforementioned strong offers, but really did like the idea of getting a legitimate starting quarterback for Dan Campbell out of the deal. Making it even tougher was the fact the Rams didn’t have a first-round pick, their 2021 slot gone as the last piece of the Jalen Ramsey trade, which only gave the Lions impetus to ask for more.

Two things worked to buoy the Rams’ interest, and the first was McVay’s personal drive to get the deal done.

Along those lines, McVay was the one who called Rams owner Stan Kroenke on Saturday to sign off on the team going the extra mile to get it done, spurred by some extra tape work he and Snead did. That work only cemented what McVay loved about Stafford already—how quickly he processes, his pocket movement, his play urgency, his ability to throw off platform or in rhythm and his tough, fearless style—which pushed Snead into the mode where he was going into the afternoon with the intention of getting a deal done.

The second thing was that everyone the Rams asked loved and believed in Stafford. And that wound up including McVay himself, who happened to have a casual friendship with him. McVay is buddies with Bills receivers coach Chad Hall, from the days when the two were star high school quarterbacks in the Atlanta area (McVay at Marist, Hall at Wesleyan), and Hall’s sister happens to be … Kelly Hall Stafford.

Before this week, the Stafford-McVay relationship wasn’t a whole lot more than saying hello and maybe hanging out a little before games and at events. But it was enough for the Rams to match what they were hearing on Stafford with McVay’s own experience.

So, really, as afternoon turned to night on Saturday in Detroit, the Lions’ brass stayed in the office, and kept Hamp fully abreast of the situation—a deal most certainly could happen.

On paper, the return looks a little wild. But the Rams’ perspective on the deal was a little different than most.

First, as they saw it, if the first-round picks wind up being in the 20s (or later), then they’d have given up about what, on a points basis, Carolina was offering with the eighth overall pick. The old Jimmy Johnson draft value chart puts the eighth pick at 1,400 points, making it equal to two 26th overall picks (700 each). And getting a clean break on Goff, and offloading his deal, rather than having to smoke out suitors under duress was a big benefit.

The third-rounder they’re giving up this year, interestingly enough, they’ll essentially get back as a comp pick for the Lions’ hire of Holmes.

And Snead’s department has found a way to dig out guys like Cam Akers, Van Jefferson, Cooper Kupp, John Johnson, Taylor Rapp, Samson Ebukam, Gerald Everett, Jordan Fuller, Darious Williams, and Sebastian Joseph-Day outside the first round over the last few years. Of course, with a top-heavy salary structure, and no first-rounders the next three years, it’s going to be more essential to do it now than ever. But the Rams have shown they can.

With all this in mind, the Rams’ front office moved forward, knowing that, at the very least, it had to beat a current-year top-10 pick to get Stafford. As the group worked on it, a couple things came up. One was that Brees and Aaron Rodgers had only been to one Super Bowl apiece, Russell Wilson hadn’t been back to the NFC title game in five years and Ben Roethlisberger had only gone that far once since his last Super Bowl, 10 years ago. Another was a stat that a member of the brass saw on social media.

Lions QB Matthew Stafford, in 166 starts, has only had a 100-yard rusher 11 times.

Both things reinforced, to everyone in the room, how hard it is to win in the NFL, and how important it is, when you have a team you think is capable of making to the top, to give it every chance—even if that means walking away from a quarterback who’s second in wins to Tom Brady over the last four years (Goff is, with 42).

And in the weird circumstances of 2020, it meant Snead, Demoff, and Pastoors getting the deal done over FaceTime, out of the office and in different spots outside of L.A., with McVay hunting down his new quarterback to celebrate in Mexico in the aftermath.

So Stafford’s a Ram, under contract for the next two years at a relative bargain price of $43 million, and set to turn 33 on Super Bowl Sunday, and the message this sends to all of his soon-to-be-teammates couldn’t be clearer: The brain trust believes the team is ready to win very big and win very big right now.

Maybe it’ll work, and Stafford will be holding a trophy a year from now. Maybe it won’t, and the roster will be in ruins a couple years down the line, cap-strapped and bereft of young talent.

Either way, this mic-dropping moment for the Rams will echo for years to come.

InvaderRam wrote:

Zooey wrote:

zn wrote:

JosinaAnderson@JosinaAnderson
Text from league source on the #Lions trade talks for QB Matthew Stafford: “I’m sure they’ll get a trade, but right now they’re looking for a sucker to overpay.”

Of course they are.

And the other teams are looking for the Lions to take a fire sale offer.

oh dear.

Yeah…..

My first reaction was shock at what the Rams gave up. It seems like a lot.

Then I figured that those picks are likely to be late first round, and that’s usually where you hit the center of the 2nd tier good prospects that isn’t much different from the mid-second round. They’re good prospects, but not like the guys in the top of the first round. I mean…you’re out of the blue chips, and into the red chips.

I saw Mack on Twitter site a rumor that Goff has become quite a party man since his contract, but that’s from Reddit and unverified.

I don’t know. If Stafford’s better than Goff, then cool. Gets to the Super Bowl, then it’s worth it. I look forward to watching him play.

zn wrote:

𝒥𝒾𝓂 𝐸𝓋𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓉@Jim_Everett
The traits I see that both Andy Reid & Bruce Arians have in common? Both have extensive knowledge of the game, vast experiences, fantastic communicators/motivators and possibly the most important trait, both have learned the power of delegation.

Maybe McVay is the reincarnation of Dick Vermeil.

We got Dick Vermeil, 2nd Edition.

We got Sean McVay, 1st Edition.

He will burn himself out if he doesn’t delegate.

I just don’t like this at all.

This is looking like a bridge burning at this point, and I think it’s the low moment of the Snead Era.

I don’t mind the Rams kicking the tires on other QBs, and holding conversations, but I don’t like the public handling of this. I don’t like anything about the Rams since the Green Bay game.

McVay and Snead have done nothing to quell the fire that they lit over Goff. The Goff situation seems unnecessary to me. Why dangle him at arms’ length while holding their nose? If it’s supposed to be motivational, then they are idiots. There are ways to motivate people positively, and this isn’t it.

There may be more to the story. Maybe there is a work ethic problem, or confrontations we don’t know about, or Goff is changing play calls, or something, but barring behind-the-scenes, not-yet-revealed problems, this just doesn’t look good. The Rams can do much worse than Goff. I should know. I’ve been watching them for more than 50 years.

And…you know…the thing is, there is not a plethora of better QBs available.

Meanwhile, while Goff played poorly a bit here and there, he was mostly satisfactory, and to my eye, the Rams weakness on offense was a sometimes unstable running game (due to injuries), a sometimes unstable OL (due to injuries), and the lack of a vertical passing game. Only the latter might be partly Goff’s fault, but we’ve seen him go vertical effectively in the past, so it seems more likely that they miss Cooks. And from what I can tell, the play-calling was heavily tilted towards horizontal throws that the WR has to wait for, and rely on ROC, rather than hitting the WR in stride. I just don’t think the Rams’ regression offensively is Goff’s fault.

And what are they doing this for? I guess if they manage to bag Watson, then they’re geniuses. But short of that, wtf?

Report: Rams have explored possibility of trading for Matthew Stafford

By Cameron DaSilva

* https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2021/01/29/nfl-rams-lions-matthew-stafford-trade-market/amp/

nittany ram wrote:

InvaderRam wrote:

D’Marco Farr was on 101.1 in St. Louis this morning.

He’s pretty much convinced Snead and McVay are just trying to motivate Goff.

I’m wondering if they are trying to intimidate Goff and his agent to get him to redo his contract.

But that has never happened in the history of ever. No player ever gave back money because the performance didn’t match expectation. And if they just needed to redo the contract in order to sign someone else, this isn’t the way to go about that.

The only explanation that makes any sense is the motivational expectation, but man… this is a bad way to do it. This is the first major screw up we have seen from the front office in years.

I can’t imagine the Rams have decided they are definitely moving on from Goff.

That would be the most stunning news ever out of Rams world.

I would not be surprised to learn that they picked up the phone and talked to GB, and DET, and HOU, and maybe even somebody like the NYJ, but I have a hard time believing that they have decided that they cannot go forward with Goff.

I mean…Goff threw a lot of balls into the flat. But I have to believe that was what the play called for. I just have a very hard time believing that Goff did the dink and dunk when he wasn’t asked to do that. The man can throw the ball deep. I just. I just can’t see that. Even with the worst possible framing, Goff did not have a bad year. He is absolutely NOT the reason they won only one playoff game. Jesus. How many QBs played Zero playoff games?

Goff may not WIN games by creating explosive plays. But he doesn’t LOSE games, either.

zn wrote:

Cal wrote:

McVay’s recent comments about Goff make me more concerned about McVay than Goff.

I’ve been thinking along the same lines.

You can drop me in that column, as well.

And I will add that the Rams had a lot of coaches leave, some for positions that did not look markedly superior, and I wonder if that’s strictly “career moves.”

InvaderRam wrote:

i think it’d be a mistake.

unless they can get someone like watson. which will never happen. you stick with goff. and try to upgrade the offensive line. try to add some speed at wr. keep developing the running backs.

unless something happened with goff behind the scenes. do snead and mcvay question goff’s commitment somehow? i haven’t heard anything like that.

I agree completely.

Which leads back to… what are they playing with this non-committal crap?

South Park LA edition. 😂 pic.twitter.com/l6rqh2G3wQ

— 𝒥𝒾𝓂 𝐸𝓋𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓉 (@Jim_Everett) January 26, 2021