The Los Angeles Rams have found their new quarterback less than a month after their 2020 season ended. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Rams are trading Jared Goff, two first-round picks and a third-rounder to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford.
It’s a massive price for the Rams to pay, but they were clearly set on moving Goff after he struggled in 2019 and 2020. The trade comes less than two years after Goff signed a massive four-year, $134 million contract with the Rams, which is through 2024.
Stafford has two years left on his contract. His base salary is $9.5 million in 2021 and $12.5 million in 2022. By trading Goff, the Rams will take on $22.2 million in dead money, but save $12.4 million in cap space next season.
Detroit is dealing QB Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for two future first-round picks, a third-round pick and QB Jared Goff, per sources. Two former No. 1 overall picks trading places in the first blockbuster NFL trade of 2021.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 31, 2021
Sean McVay and Les Snead said after the Rams’ season ended that they couldn’t commit to Goff being their quarterback moving forward, saying he’s a Ram “right now.” Clearly, they weren’t bluffing.
The Lions hired former Rams college scouting director Brad Holmes as their general manager this offseason, and his first move in the role was to acquire the quarterback he helped identify as the No. 1 overall pick in 2016.
