In a span of 16 months, Jared Goff went from being the Rams’ long-term solution at quarterback after signing a four-year, $134 million deal to being dumped by the team that traded up to draft him first overall in 2016. It was a rapid fall from grace for Goff in Los Angeles, but he’ll get a chance for a fresh start in Detroit.
The Rams agreed to trade him and three draft picks to the Lions for Matthew Stafford, a deal that will become official on March 17. While the reactions have been flowing non-stop on social media and by NFL players, Goff has remained relatively quiet.
He spoke to Mike Silver of NFL.com on Sunday and told him that he’s just happy to be joining a team that he knows wants him there – which the Rams very clearly no longer did.
“I’m just excited to be somewhere that I know wants me and appreciates me,” Goff told Silver. “I’m moving forward and couldn’t be more excited to build a winner there. I’m excited about Dan (Campbell) and the whole staff.”
According to Silver, the Rams never told Goff that they wanted to move on. And so, Goff was caught off guard by the trade sending him to the Motor City.
In fairness to Goff, he was blindsided. Neither Snead nor McVay had told him the team wanted to move on, or anything close to that. For a 26-year-old, who, since being thrown into a tough situation his rookie year, has consistently displayed toughness, commitment, positivity and team-centric behavior during his time with the franchise, it was a crappy way to learn he was unwanted, yet he refused to fire back.
Goff was brief with McVay after he got the call from his head coach that he had been traded. While on the phone with McVay, Goff’s father was calling him, too, which caused the conversation between the quarterback and coach to remain short. Goff told McVay, “I’ve gotta go,” and hung up “to talk to his dad about the next chapter of his NFL career,” Silver wrote.
It’s hard to blame Goff if he’s frustrated or disappointed by this stunning turn of events. With four years left on his deal, no one expected the Rams to move on from him until McVay and Snead made it clear in the last two weeks that they had other plans at quarterback.
He’ll have a chance to help rebuild a Lions team in Detroit, with an opportunity to prove the Rams wrong next season when they host the Lions at SoFi Stadium – a game Goff will certainly have circled on the calendar.
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