Detroit Lions didn’t get enough back in the Matthew Stafford trade
The Detroit Lions have to be kicking themselves for not getting more from the Los Angeles Rams in the Matthew Stafford trade.
Hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it? The Detroit Lions had the most valuable available asset in the 2021 offseason in quarterback Matthew Stafford, and they traded him for what appeared to be a pretty big haul of picks plus Jared Goff.
It wasn’t big enough.
After hiring Dan Campbell as their head coach and Brad Holmes as their general manager, the Detroit Lions entered rebuild mode, and understandably so. The roster needed to be gutted, the culture had to change and as good as Matthew Stafford is and was for them, it was time for the two sides to move on.
The Lions had a golden opportunity to get a king’s ransom for Matthew Stafford, and they blew it.
Detroit Lions didn’t get enough back in the Matthew Stafford deal with Rams
Let’s take a moment to revisit the official terms of the Matthew Stafford trade between the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions.
Los Angeles Rams got:
- QB Matthew Stafford
Detroit Lions got:
- QB Jared Goff
- 2022 first-round pick
- 2022 third-round pick (compensatory)
- 2023 first-round pick
On paper, the fact that the Detroit Lions got multiple first-round picks for Matthew Stafford certainly looks good for them.
The fact that they got two first-round picks and a third-round pick? Still looks pretty good on paper.
Add in the fact that — again, on paper — they got two future first-round picks, a third-round pick, and a fellow former number one overall pick?
Well, this is a great trade for the Detroit Lions.
Not so fast.
Projecting the Rams as a playoff team the next two years as any reasonable person would, those two future first-round picks are going to come in the late 20s or 30s, at best.
That third-round pick? A compensatory selection that may not even be in the top 100 overall selections.
That former first-overall pick?
A player the Los Angeles Rams no longer believed in.
The Detroit Lions, after some digging and the benefit of hindsight with Matthew Stafford playing out of his mind in the first three games of the season, clearly did the Los Angeles Rams a huge solid.
Brad Holmes, the GM of the Lions, came to Detroit from the Rams organization. One of the selections he’s getting in this trade — the third-round compensatory pick — is a selection the Rams are guaranteed to get because of the fact that he was hired by Detroit.
The Lions understandably did Stafford a solid in letting him dictate his next destination after all he gave to the franchise over the years. They simply failed to support him, and this trade was a “do-right” by the player.
With that being said, Brad Holmes got raked over the coals by his old buddies in Los Angeles.
He didn’t even get a high selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, his first year on the job.
He got Jared Goff, and the acquisition of Goff possibly prevented the Detroit Lions from going after a quarterback that they could rebuild with right away like Justin Fields or Mac Jones. The lack of 2021 assets in this trade also may have prevented Detroit from moving up to get Trey Lance if they liked him.
Had the Lions actually shopped Stafford around the league, they may have gotten a much better offer than this. It didn’t seem like they were really willing to deal with anyone but the Rams based on Holmes’ time with that franchise plus Stafford’s motivation to get there.
Ultimately, their decisions could be extremely costly for the franchise.
The NFL Draft is a crapshoot every year, and the Lions didn’t set themselves up very well with any proven foundation pieces coming in return for a guy who might be the difference between the Los Angeles Rams being a very good team and a Super Bowl Champion.