It’s not often that a team moves on from its supposed franchise quarterback just 16 months after signing him to a record-setting contract. The Rams, however, don’t operate like most other teams.
Seeing their offense stall under the leadership of Jared Goff the last two seasons, the Rams chose not to wait for a possible turnaround in 2021. They agreed to a mega-trade with the Detroit Lions, sending them Goff, two first-round picks and a third-rounder for Matthew Stafford.
It happened just two seasons after Goff signed a four-year, $134 million extension with the Rams, making this deal that much more surprising. He spoke about the trade with Sam Farmer of the L.A. Times and knowing he was no longer wanted by the Rams, Goff says the feeling is mutual.
“Ultimately, they wanted to go in a different direction,” Goff said. “As the quarterback, as the guy that’s at arguably the most important position on the field, if you’re in a place that you’re not wanted and they want to move on from you, the feeling’s mutual.
“You don’t want to be in the wrong place. It became increasingly clear that was the case. [The trade] is something that I’m hopeful is going to be so good for my career.”
Like everyone else, Goff is trying to figure out when exactly things went wrong for him in L.A. He still hasn’t had that conversation with the Rams yet, and his conversation with Sean McVay after learning of the trade was brief because his dad was calling at the same time.
“That’s the tough part right now is trying to figure that out, when did that happen?” he said. “Those are all conversations that I may or may not have, and try to figure it out. That’s the conversation to have.”
Despite the reported rift between Goff and McVay, the quarterback has no regrets about how things went. He admitted “it ended sourly,” but the two “had a great relationship and did so many great things together.”
“I really enjoyed my time here,” Goff said. “I want to leave this on a positive note. Obviously, the ending wasn’t favorable and wasn’t fun. But them drafting me No. 1 overall and bringing me to a city that hasn’t had a football team in a long time, being a part of that rebuild after 2016, being able to help bring L.A. football back to prominence, all that stuff I take extreme pride in. It’s something that I’ll always remember.”
Goff has now turned his attention to Detroit, where he’s fired up to be. After being traded by the Rams, he talked to Lions GM Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell, which only got him more excited for this fresh start.
He and the Lions will face the Rams next season at SoFi Stadium, a game Goff will certainly circle when the schedule is released.