Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn spoke to the media at the 2020 NFL Combine and confirmed Matthew Stafford is healthy and will be available for offseason workouts, which are just over two months away.
Quinn said he spoke to Stafford within the last few weeks and that Stafford is “feeling really good, training full, and he’ll be full-go for offseason program”.
As the press conference continued, Quinn was asked questions about selecting players with the No. 3 overall pick, how he contemplates knowing when it’s time to move on from a player, and when those topics merged, Quinn expressed his confidence in Stafford’s talent.
The one thing about Matthew (Stafford) is his number one trait is still the same as when I came here four-and-a-half years ago. He still has that great arm strength. He’s a competitor. He’s tough. He’s sneaky athletic. I think he’s improved his athleticism a little bit over his career. He does a great job taking care of his body.
So, you take all those things into consideration, just like any other player, are they ascending, or are they declining? I think it’s different for every position in terms of how old they are. In my opinion, when you’re a quarterback your prime is your late twenties into your early thirties. That’s your prime, because you take your first part of your career and you’re working on all those other things.
As we saw, how did Matthew play last year when he was out there? I think everyone would agree he played really good. So that’s what we’re expecting when he comes back.
Stafford, who just turned 32 years old less than two weeks ago, falls within Quinn’s definition of “prime” for a quarterback, which is why it’s also not surprising that he has been so insistent that Stafford will not be traded.
