Getty Matthew Stafford warming up.
Rumors have been circulating that the Detroit Lions could choose to trade Matthew Stafford this offseason, but that plan might not even be close to being realistic in the grand scheme of things.
Stafford, in addition to being a team leader and a key piece, has a massive cap hit and a contract which currently is nearly immovable. After a new round of Stafford rumors began to swirl, former NFL front office man Andrew Brandt hopped on Twitter and said that it’s probably not feasible to think that the Lions will deal Stafford easily.
As he said, if the Lions can’t trade Stafford, it might be their own fault considering his contract. A major dead cap hit would be created with any Stafford move, and the Lions would have to eat the money in order to move on from Stafford.
Any rumor of a trade of Matt Stafford is pure folly. The Lions, in the way they have structured repeated contracts, have made him untradeable. Would cost them $32M in Cap for him to NOT be there.
This is probably the best argument against a Stafford trade, in addition to the fact that it simply doesn’t seem as if the Lions will move on in such a vital year from such a key player.
Matthew Stafford Trade Rumors Swirling
According to Local 4 WDIV Detroit, the Lions were said to be in negotiations for a Stafford deal with teams for a few weeks. The report was revealed late at night, and was shared on the station’s website. Here’s the key details it presented:
“Sources close to the Detroit Lions have confirmed to Local 4′s Bernie Smilovitz that trade talks concerning quarterback Matthew Stafford have been underway for a couple of weeks.
Stafford’s wife Kelly posted on her Instagram account saying if her husband were to be traded, one destination she would be interested in is California.”
In spite of that, however, it didn’t take Lions’ general manager Bob Quinn long to refute the report. In a text to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Quinn shot down any potential Stafford rumors as completely false. Here’s what Birkett wrote after connecting with him:
“Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn refuted a late-night report that the team is in talks to trade quarterback Matthew Stafford.
“100% False!!” Quinn wrote in a text message to the Free Press.”
Stafford rumors continue to swirl around the team and the reasoning is obvious. The Lions have a powerful chip in the form of Tua Tagovailoa hanging around near the top of the NFL Draft. It’s likely the team is trying to bluff someone into either trading ahead of their pick, or trying to make sure that folks know they could be open for business at quarterback with the No. 3 pick this April.
Both outcomes could assure the Lions a better chance at drafting players they’re interested in or acquiring picks. Stafford himself might be collateral damage for the time being, but it’s tough to envision the Lions completely moving on from their quarterback in such a vital season.
For now, that continues to be the case.
Bob Quinn Commented About Matthew Stafford Trade Rumors
Stafford’s future has been open to interpretation with earlier rumors swirling that the team could draft someone else or move on entirely. Quinn, however, joined SiriusXM NFL Radio over a month ago and explained why none of that could be the case at all.
“I’m totally comfortable and happy Matthew Stafford’s our quarterback. He’s going to be in full health once the offseason program starts its course. He’s pretty much at full health right now. Talked to him about 10 days ago,” Quinn said in the interview. “He was in the office so he’s feeling great. He’s in a good mindset, he’s excited. Obviously he’s a competitor so to miss half the season was hard on him. But he did a great job with our backup quarterbacks.”
Specifically, Quinn admitted he liked watching Stafford work with the backups and prepare them. That let him know the team is in good hands moving forward.
“Just behind the scenes, seeing him in a different light,” he said. “Since I’ve been there he’s been at every practice and every game. To see him in coach mode was pretty cool to see. He really cares about not only our team and his teammates and his leadership, really helping those other quarterbacks learn our system on the fly when he went down.”
That leads Quinn to feel positively about Stafford moving forward and the impact he might have on the team.
“I feel great about Matthew. He’s going to come back strong and we’re ready to go for next year,” he said.
These quotes would seem to throw cold water on the notion that the Lions would draft a quarterback early or decide to deal Stafford this offseason, a couple of things that have been rumored so far.
No matter how many of those rumors surfaced, it makes sense that Stafford would be more likely to return given this major variable.
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