Getty Jared Goff on the field for a 2018 game.
The Detroit Lions’ decision to trade Matthew Stafford was a tough one, but a bit of the pain was eased by the draft pick haul they managed to get in return plus Jared Goff.
Detroit, reports say, wanted to land a quarterback in a Stafford trade, and in Goff, they got a player who has a 6-5 playoff record, has played in a Super Bowl, won an NFC Championship and also competed in several big games at the young age of 26. All of that might not matter to ESPN’s Marcus Spears, though.
Spears isn’t a believer in Goff at all, and as he said on a recent episode of NFL Live, the reason the Los Angeles Rams made the dramatic trade for Matthew Stafford was because they felt Stafford was a significant upgrade over Goff, a player Spears thinks is too up and down to be a dependable quarterback in the league.
What’s in store for Matthew Stafford and the @RamsNFL?
@mspears96 says Stafford is “a significant upgrade over Jared Goff.”
Spears said:
“You never know what you’re going to get from him. L.A. told us everything we needed to know, you know I’m gong back to when they started a financial analyst over the $100 million dollar quarterback they had in a Wild Card playoff game, again, a Wild Card playoff game, the $100 million dollar quarterback that proved he could play in that game did not start the game. The Rams told us all we needed to know about how they felt about Jared Goff. That’s why they were willing to give up what they gave up for Matthew Stafford, because Matthew Stafford is a significant upgrade over Jared Goff. Especially with a team that has Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey on the other side of the ball with a defense that can play at an elite level. You at least, at the minimum, want a quarterback that you can count on making plays throughout a game and not giving games away.”
It’s a major burn from Spears to Goff, and the player will now have his chance to come into Detroit motivated in order to prove such things wrong. Clearly, Goff isn’t going to get a ton of love after things went sour in Los Angeles, but he can come in with a chip on his shoulder and begin to turn his career around.
Explaining Jared Goff’s Split With Rams
The Rams have had plenty of playoff success in the last few seasons, and Goff has been a big part of that success, even as he has not received tons of credit for what he’s done. He’s been overlooked on the Rams at times given the coaching staff and other big name players on the team. Other things went wrong for the Rams other than just Goff, so he gets a chance at a clean slate and a brand new start which could help bolster his career.
Goff might look like the scapegoat for Los Angeles right now, but it’s true that the team had other problems which helped in their struggle the last few seasons. With a good start in Detroit, Goff can make others begin to realize that fact if he’s able to play well in his new surroundings. It sounds like both he and the team are motivated to make this happen.
Jared Goff’s Opportunity in Detroit
When Goff gets to the Lions, he’s going to have the chance to do some damage right away to the perceptions that have been dogging him since his time in Los Angeles. Many are going to give up on Goff and proclaim him washed up or finished, but there is still plenty the 26 year-old can do with the Lions. With a 6-5 playoff record and a Super Bowl appearance, Goff immediatly becomes one of the most successful Lions quarterbacks of all-time. If he comes in and can deliver some similar results to the team in his career, he would go down as arguably the best in Lions history. New coaching from Anthony Lynn and Mark Brunell could also help Goff turn over a new leaf.
Should Goff struggle and look like Spears claims he does, there won’t be much lost for the Lions, who still have three draft picks they received out of the deal. It’s likely they will be able to get the quarterback they want in that scenario.
For Detroit, it’s a win-win to bet on Goff at this point in time, and that’s true no matter how many folks just don’t seem to believe in him.