The Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams pulled off a blockbuster trade on Saturday night, with the Lions agreeing to send quarterback Matthew Stafford to Los Angeles and the Rams agreeing to send quarterback Jared Goff and several high picks to Detroit.
The deal is a big one in terms of shaping the start of the offseason and resetting the future for the Lions, a rival of the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North.
Here’s what the trade means for the Packers:
– There’s a new quarterback in the division, although the swap doesn’t really change the hierarchy of passers in the NFC North much, if at all. Goff, the No. 1 overall pick in 2016, becomes the expected starter for the Lions after 12 years with Stafford under center. Goff’s career passer rating (91.5) is slightly better than Stafford’s (89.9), but this is clearly a talent downgrade for the Lions.
– The quarterbacks are important, but I’d focus more on the picks. The Lions now have a bunch of high picks to use in the next three years, including five first-rounders.
– Clever work by the Lions to take on Goff’s (hideous) contract in exchange for more high picks.
– Short term, this has to be considered a good thing for the Packers inside the division. The Lions are going to tear this thing down and rebuild. Goff isn’t as talented as Stafford, who always gave the Lions a fighting chance, even during the very lean years. The Packers will get two opportunities to face a middling football team in transition next year.
– It will be very interesting to see how the Lions craft their future. They now have an experienced starting quarterback to bridge the gap and the draft capital to be aggressive and get the quarterback of the future. This team is rebuilding under new coach Dan Campbell and GM Brad Holmes, but the early stages look promising. Now, the Lions must avoid doing Lions things and smartly use their renovation resources.
– Don’t be surprised if the Lions use their draft ammunition to move up and get their guy at quarterback.
– The Rams stay aggressive. This was a 10-win team with a top defense that just wasn’t good enough at quarterback to get over the hump. I think the Rams realized their limitations with Goff and set out to find something better at the game’s most important position. And the Rams are never afraid to spend top picks to acquire veterans. Stafford has his faults but he could be great in the Sean McVay offense. Why does this matter for the Packers? With Stafford, the Rams could be a legitimate hurdle in the NFC. It’s always notable when good teams in the conference upgrade at quarterback.
– The Packers just beat Goff at Lambeau Field earlier this month. He was battling a thumb injury, but his limitations were clear. Goff doesn’t have a big arm and he doesn’t move all that well. The guess here is that prepping for a game against Goff is going to be pretty straightforward for the next Packers defensive coordinator. McVay knows offense and he knows quarterbacks, so it’s hard to assume Goff is going to transform into something new in Detroit.
– The Packers won three straight games against the Lions with Stafford under center over the last two years. They’ll face him again in 2021. The Packers play the Rams at home.
– Credit the Lions. They probably maximized Stafford’s trade value, and they also got a (stopgap?) quarterback with some previous success to guide the path forward. Trading a long-time starting quarterback isn’t necessarily easy, but the Lions got as much out of this transaction as anyone could have reasonably expected.
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