After the 2021 NFL season, the Los Angeles Rams Y Detroit Lions he executed a trade that sent Matthew Stafford to Los Angeles and Jared Goff to Detroit. Let’s examine the details of the trade and why the Rams felt they needed to make the move if they wanted to go all the way and win a Super Bowl.
The Rams acquired Matthew Stafford and sent Jared Goff to the Lions
At the end of January 2021, the Rams and Lions agreed to trade that would send Goff to Detroit and get Stafford to Los Angeles. Along with Goff, the Rams sent three draft picks to the Lions: a third-round pick in 2021 and first-round picks in 2022 and 2023.
A big chunk of the Rams’ price involved unloading goff’s contract of his books in 2021 and beyond. Goff had signed a four-year contract extension worth $134 million with the Rams in 2019. Inside that deal were $110 million in guarantees, making it difficult for the Rams to leave Goff until after the 2022 season. time of the exchange, Goff still had $43 million in guaranteed money remaining on your contract.
Even then, the Rams had to eat $24.7 million in dead money in 2021. That included the remaining $15 million in prorated signing bonus, a $2.5 million roster bonus and the remaining $7.2 million in prorated option bonus. However, Goff would have cost about $30 million against the cap in 2021 regardless and about $30 million again in 2022.
In addition, the Lions had to keep $19 million in dead money from stafford contract for the deal to work. All of that factored into the price, as Stafford headed to Los Angeles with just a cap of $20 million for 2021 and $23 million in 2022.
Why did the Rams feel they needed to trade for Stafford?
The Rams had become the “not quite” team with Goff at QB. They had by no means failed, making the playoffs three of the four years Goff and head coach Sean McVay were together. However, they had failed to win the Super Bowl in any of those four years. The closest they came was in Super Bowl LIII, resulting in a 13-3 loss to the New England Patriots.
The Rams have not been shy about going all-in under the guidance of McVay and general manager Les Snead. They have made a number of headline trades during that period. They brought in Brandin Cooks, Dante Fowler and Marcus Peters, who have now moved on to other franchises.
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The biggest acquisition before Stafford was CB Jalen Ramsey. Los Angeles sent two first-round picks (2020 and 2021) to the Jacksonville Jaguars to acquire Ramsey. The team has gone to great lengths to have superstar players on their roster.
That continued in 2021 when the Rams sent second- and third-round picks in 2022 to the Denver Broncos in exchange for Von Miller. Look no further than your draft capital to see the efforts the Rams have made. Los Angeles hasn’t made a first-round pick since they drafted Goff in 2016, and they aren’t currently ready to make one until 2024. In the 2022 NFL Draft, the Rams have only a third, fifth and seventh round pick. selection.
The pressure is on Los Angeles
After making these moves, the Rams have no excuses. Go and win the Super Bowl. While his core of Stafford, Ramsey, Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp is under contract through next season, other key players will become free agents this offseason.
Miller, WR Odell Beckham Jr. and CB Darious Williams will become unrestricted free agents this spring. In addition to those three key pieces, two other players acquired since McVay joined the team, G Austin Corbett and RB Sony Michel, are set to leave the franchise.
The acquisition of Stafford essentially opened a two-year window for the Rams to make a Super Bowl run before reevaluating. The moves by Michel and Miller, as well as the full-court pressure applied by the team to add Beckham as a free agent midway through the season, showed how the Rams have gone all-in this season.
There is a possibility that they may reorganize and come back next year. However, current projections have them $5 million over the cap. While they have 48 players under contract, a lack of salary-cap space could make it difficult for them to add difference-makers before the 2022 season. As all NFL teams do, the Rams will open up salary-cap space this offseason. , but the Rams are under pressure to win a Super Bowl after their aggressive trading the past two years.
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Why did the Rams trade for Matthew Stafford? Reviewing trade between Los Angeles and Detroit