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It seems like the Lions had plenty of suitors for QB Matt Stafford this offseason but in the end, he wound up going to his preferred team in LA.
On Saturday night it was revealed that Stafford was traded to the LA Rams for Jared Goff, two future first-round picks, and a third-round pick.
Via ESPN
Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is heading to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for quarterback Jared Goff and a multitude of draft picks, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Saturday night.
The Lions will receive a third-round pick in 2021, a first-round pick in 2022 and a first-round pick in 2023 in what is the first exchange of former No. 1 overall picks in the common draft era (since 1967). The deal cannot be made official until the start of the new league year on March 17.
According to various reports, the Washington Football team made a better offer that would have given the Lions immediate help but the team decided on shipping him to the Rams anyways.
Washington made the Lions a significant offer for QB
Matthew Stafford, per sources. One person familiar with the situation said the WFT offer included more immediate help than what Lions landed. Detroit went another way. The search for a QB rolls on.— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) January 31, 2021
Per source, Washington's offer for Matthew Stafford was better for the Lions this year than what the Rams offered. L.A. deal includes a third-rounder in 2021. https://t.co/aBnpCdmb6S
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) January 31, 2021
League source gives opinion on #Lions decision to take the #Rams deal for Matthew Stafford: "The Rams were screwed with a bad contract on (Jared) Goff and the #Lions helped them and don't even get a good pick this year. The Washington offer was better."
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) January 31, 2021
Apparently, the Lions wanted to trade Stafford to a place where he felt comfortable getting traded to even if it meant they lost a small bit of value.
Carolina, Denver, Washington, Indianapolis, and others called and inquired on Stafford. No deal was quite as overwhelming as LA’s and Stafford had a preference to be w McVay and in LA.
In the end, the Lions org wasn’t going to end on foul terms w their franchise’s greatest QB.
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) January 31, 2021