Jared Goff’s time with the Los Angeles Rams came to an unexpected and sudden end in 2021 when he was traded to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford in a shocking deal. Goff had led the Rams to the Super Bowl just two years prior, and now he was being shipped out of town for a more proven quarterback that the team liked better.
It wasn’t the most amicable split, particularly when it comes to his relationship with Sean McVay. The two didn’t see eye-to-eye at the end and reports suggest there was a rift between them. Goff even requested an exit interview with McVay to find out why he was being traded.
On Wednesday, McVay was asked about his partnership with Goff and he admitted the quarterback “deserved” better at the end of his Rams tenure.
“I just think growing as a person, handling every situation the way that you want to with perspective, respect, appreciation,” McVay said, reflecting on his time with Goff. “The thing that I’ll never run away from are mistakes that I’ve made in previous instances. But when you look back on it the gratitude for those four years, all the good memories that we had. And then when you end up making a change that ended up being difficult and could it have been handled better on my end? Absolutely. I’ll never run away from that. But the further you get away from it, the more that you try to grow as a man, as a person, as the leader that you want to become. He deserved better than the way that it all went down. I’ll acknowledge that. I think he knows that too. I’m not afraid to admit to those things, but I think we’re all better being able to look back on those things and I do have more appreciation for him as time goes on.”
McVay and the Rams weren’t wrong for trading Goff to the Lions for Stafford, seeing as they won a Super Bowl in their first season with Stafford under center. However, McVay wishes he handled the entire situation better.
Goff will get a chance to show the Rams he’s still a talented quarterback when he faces his former team on Sunday night, but Stafford will also attempt to remind everyone in Detroit just how good he was despite having an underwhelming supporting cast for years.