The Seattle Seahawks will see a new quarterback in the division when the 2021 season begins next August. The Los Angeles Rams sent Jared Goff, their 2022 and 2023 first round picks, and their 2021 third round pick.
It wasn’t so hard to tell that the Rams were not likely to move forward with Jared Goff. There were speculations just last week that there was going to be a quarterback battle between Goff and John Wolford. Yes, the same Wolford who was allowed to make a very impromptu spot playoff start thanks to Goff’s broken thumb. But last week the general manager of the Rams said this:
“Jared Goff is a Ram at this moment,” Snead said when asked whether Goff would be on the roster in 2021. “It’s way too early to speculate the future. That’s a beautiful mystery.”
That’s pretty much the kiss of death for any quarterback looking to continue playing in a town. Les Snead said those words on January 26 and by January 30, he was no longer a Ram. Goff and McVay went to a Super Bowl together, signed a massive extension together, and made two Pro Bowls together, but now he is gone.
There were a lot of rumblings about this before the season even began but now that it is official, it is a little surprising. Goff was never going to be the QB who dominated in a game or put up insane numbers, but he was a very ideal game manager and sometimes that’s all you need to succeed. But the Rams wanted more, they wanted a guy who was made of grit and who could go out and make all the plays. They think they found their guy and I think it is an interesting choice.
Matt Stafford is one of the most respected quarterbacks in the National Football League and he is one of the toughest quarterbacks to ever suit up, but he isn’t the flashiest name of all-time when it comes to the Rams new quarterback. I expected them to make a push in the draft, put in an offer for Deshaun Watson, see if they could get Sam Darnold, but it seems like Stafford is the guy who McVay wanted.
In fact, McVay was so excited about the Stafford trade that the two linked up in Mexico right after it was announced that the trade was official. There is a lot of excitement over Stafford joining the Rams and probably for a good reason. He has played in 16 games in nine of the last 10 seasons. Out of those nine seasons where he played 16 games, he threw for over 4000 yards in all but one of them. In his last five seasons, he has kept his interception percentage down under 2 percent in every season and has had a completion percentage of at least 64 percent.
Stafford is a guy who is known for fourth quarter comebacks, completing eight of them in 2016, an NFL record. He is the fastest player in NFL history to hit 20,000, 30,000, 40,000, and 45,000 passing yards. He is also the first player in NFL history to throw for at least 60 percent completion rating in every game during a season back in 2015.
While Stafford experienced almost no team success in Detroit, he was a guy who consistently put up monster numbers and did things that had never been done before. One Rams legend is extremely happy about the move to bring Stafford to Hollywood.
“I really believe that Matt Stafford is the missing piece,” Eric Dickerson said. “And sometimes you look at a football team and you think, ‘What are they missing? Are they missing two pieces, three pieces, four pieces? I think for us, when I look at the Rams, I think we’re missing two pieces. I think we need a speed receiver and a real top-notch quarterback. I like the trade. I think when you look at giving up draft picks and all of that, I’ll use myself. The Rams traded me and they got eight players for me. They got three No. 1s, three No. 2s and two players. The players didn’t really pan out.”
That’s pretty high praise for the guy who is probably considered the greatest Ram in the franchise’s history. And he actually has some merit to what he is saying. Goff was inconsistent at best over the last two seasons and it feels like the Rams are wasting away a defense whose potential is through the roof. Aaron Donald won’t play like this version of Aaron Donald forever and it is only a matter of time before they have to punch in and capitalize.
It seems like McVay felt like there wasn’t enough time to draft a new QB and develop him and also wasn’t going to wait around for Goff to pull it together. All in all, I think this spells bad news for the Seahawks. The Rams have already been a thorn in their side over the last few seasons and based on the other offers for Stafford, he was a hot commodity and seen as a valuable piece to a lot of teams in the NFL.
Stafford is going to immediately bring the play of the offense up, make them more consistent, and has an even bigger arm than Goff does. Maybe the scariest part of all of this is that we really haven’t seen what the potential is on Stafford. This is a guy who has played under terrible management and coaching his entire career. Imagine what he can do with an offensive mastermind like McVay who made Goff look as good as he did.
One NFC West quarterback was shocked by the trade, airing his respect for Goff while also praising Stafford.
“I was watching a movie, just chillin’. It happened late [at]night. I was honestly surprised,” the Cardinals star Kyler Murray told FanSided. “He’s [Goff] been to a Super Bowl. I play in the league. I understand all the hate, all the criticism. I bet Jared he probably gets a lot of that. You want to be wanted you want to feel comfortable where you’re at. It’s tough.”
“They are trying to win. I respect it. I love Matt Stafford,” Kyler Murray added.
So it seems like Murray gets what the Rams are trying to do, and while it wasn’t expected, I guess it makes sense. One thing is for certain and it’s that the Rams are trying to cash in now and this probably isn’t the last move they make to try and get better.
