The Los Angeles Rams and the NFC North champion Detroit Lions square off in Sunday’s Super Wild Card Weekend game, which is full of storylines. One need only scour the roster past the quarterback position to discover the connections, as Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford are inextricably linked to each other thanks to the 2021 trade that sent the former to Detroit and the latter to Los Angeles, where he won a Super Bowl at the end of the season. Goff hasn’t forgotten the disrespect that accompanied the deal, either. “Of course,” Goff told ESPN on Wednesday. “I think it’ll never leave me, and I think that’s a good thing.”
In return for Stafford, the Rams sent Goff and draft picks to Detroit. This trade resulted in an immediate (and essential) improvement under center, giving Rams head coach Sean McVay the seasoned quarterback he so much wanted after realizing he would never win a championship with Goff. Prior to their wild-card clash, McVay acknowledged that Los Angeles’ eastward transfer of QB Goff wasn’t the smoothest.
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In search of a title, it was more or less an emotionless dumping of Goff.
“The thing that I’ll never run away from are mistakes that I’ve made in previous instances,” McVay told ESPN. But looking back, you’re grateful for all the positive things that happened throughout those four years.