All Things Rams - Stafford Thread

[chemiclord]

Edelman like... three years ago.

Hell, something like 3 of the last 8 have been non-QBs. It's not THAT rare.

[dpatnod]

When was the last time a non QB won MVP?

You know who I like for MVP?

😀

That's a bet I would make.

[Futureshock]

BradHolmesTrade.jpg

And yet some people are upset with the team for giving him what HE requested.

[Futureshock]

Yeah Drew Stanton = Matt Stafford. Good hot take.

i have nothing against Suh, glad he got a ring. But he was also only here 5 years, bolted for a record setting contract and went to the highest bidder, period. I have no ill will towards him at all for any of that. But Stafford was the QB for 12 years and took all the slings and arrows for this shit franchise he was trying to lead to success. And when they once again decided to re-set he asked for a trade so he could have a chance to win.

Okay. Great point there. He had to deal with a bunch of crap all around him and stand firm and not blow up. But I can't want him to win no more then any other ex-Lion. If people want to glom on to him for whatever reason, enjoy. It's just not me. I love the team part of teams and the Lions are my team. Period.

IDGAF about the "QB" part though. They take all the credit so...

As for Suh, why list all that crap as if he's wrong because Mayhew screwed it up.

If Suh were your son would you had told him to take less money and stay in Detroit? Why is chasing a ring different then money?

bolted for a record setting contract and went to the highest bidder, period. I have no ill will towards him at all for any of that

Yeah, no ill will. Nice hot take on your part.

Sounds like when someone says they believe in science but they don't believe in the science that goes against what their narrative is, but no ill will.

Look, don't come for me. I was never a MS hater. Never will be. Go find DWT or his kin to get your pound of flesh and stop trying to round me into that.

[froot loops]

^^ he is just pissed Matt Stafford has taken over LA, the sports capital of the world ^^

[Mainevent]

Future's favorite former Lion is a tie between Barry Sanders and Drew Stanton.

[Futureshock]

[Futureshock]

https://www.prideofdetroit.com/2022/...ates-ownership

Notes: Matthew Stafford playing the Super Bowl for Lions teammates, ownership

Back to Monday, Stafford was asked if he carries the burden of his former city with him. Is he still playing for the fans and players and coaches who watched him play at Ford Field?

“I think we all are playing for, not only the guys in this locker room, but the people that have helped us get to this position. There’s so many people in Detroit, important people in my life, that have helped me get here,” Stafford said via a virtual media session on Monday.

Included in that group is Detroit Lions ownership.

“The Ford family was unbelievable in getting me the opportunity to even come in this league and play this game that I love,” Stafford said. “They supported me and pushed me for years there. (I’m) still in contact with them, and appreciate them so much. As I do with so many teammates that I played with, both guys that are still playing, and guys that have retired.

“I do appreciate, so much, just everybody’s support and I know that when I’m out there playing, whether it’s this week in the Super Bowl or any other game, I’m a representation of those experiences that I’ve had with those people. I feel like every time I step out on the field, I’m playing for not really myself, but for everybody that’s helped get me there.”

Stafford also spoke highly of Lions fans later in the interview.

https://twitter.com/Justin_Rogers/st...pfGxFU387P59XQ

Justin Rogers
@Justin_Rogers
Asked to describe Lions fans, Stafford said loyal, passionate, everything you want fans to be. Said Detroiters were great to his family and cared about them beyond football, but as people.

[Futureshock]

When is the banner going up in Ford Field?

[froot loops]

I have to find the picture I took in a Kroger during their last playoff appearance. It was a Lions T Shirt that said 2017 playoffs. That was the year they went 9-7, they were going out to Seattle where everyone knew they were losing. I think someone from PFF called them one of the least talented teams in NFL playoff history. There have been more than a few .500 or below teams that got in so that may have been hyperbole.

I am pissed at myself for not buying that T Shirt.

[chemiclord]

I maintain that one of the biggest reasons for the Haters' Club ire towards Stafford was that he was not as visibly angry about the Ford family ownership as they were. They dreamed of an "alpha" dude screaming at coaches, screaming at the owner, and basically being their avatar of rage towards the franchise. When Stafford refused to be that guy, a small segment of the fan base irreparably turned on him.

The fact that the Fords would not suffer such a man, no matter how talented he was, and would have him out on a rail at the first opportunity (with the Detroit media carrying the Fords water about this "toxic" or "disruptive" "team cancer" that had to be excised immediately) seems to be lost on them.

[Futureshock]

Their main ire was/is rooted in a general falsehood, that the team is all about the QB. It was as false then as it is now. He is an intrical part of a great team now and they'll show it Sunday. Have your popcorn ready.

[froot loops]

I think Stafford did a lot of that stuff when the cameras weren't on. I remember the chatter that he did not care for Ebron and we saw that tweet by Kerryon saying Stafford once told to stop fucking fumbling.

I agree with chemiclord on that theory. People watch too many movies where someone can change the fortune of the franchise by himself.

[edindetroit]

Did the Lions make the right Matthew Stafford trade?

There is a big debate going on in town and it’s one that’s been going for a while. Seriously, it just won’t die. Did the Detroit Lions make the right trade when they sent Matthew Stafford to the Rams?

The Lions had many offers to consider when Matthew Stafford hit the trade block in January of 2020. The Denver Broncos reportedly offered up their first round pick and eventually threw Drew Lock into the mix, the Washington Commanders (lol at that name for the 100th time) offered the 19th pick and a third rounder and the Bears got immediately hung up on for obvious reasons.

The pick that Lions fans really go back and forth on was the Carolina Panthers offer. Per reports, the Panthers offered the 2021 eighth overall pick, a later pick that was unspecified and Teddy Bridgewater for Matthew Stafford. There are many Lions fans that feel the Lions should have gone this way over the deal the deal from the Rams. Let’s take a look at both trades and talk about why the Rams trade was the best way to go.

Panthers Offer
Eighth overall pick, later pick and Teddy Bridgewater for Matthew Stafford

There were some benefits here for sure. To start, Teddy Bridgewater’s contract is a lot easier to handle than Jared Goff’s. This would have set the Lions up to immediately move on since Bridgewater only had one year left on his deal. With that eighth pick, the Lions could have got in on the Justin Fields or Mac Jones conversation and still picked Penei Sewell. Maybe they could have picked Micah Parsons like Parsons said they thought about doing with the seventh pick before Sewell fell.

All that sounds good in theory, but it also requires some revisionist history. It’s hard to know if any of these guys work out in Detroit based off the fact that they worked out elsewhere. With Fields, we still don’t know if that worked out in Chicago. Of course Mac Jones worked out in New England and Micah Parsons might have been good regardless of where he went. Still, you never know if any of them would have worked in Detroit.

Let’s say the Lions go with that eighth pick and take one of the quarterbacks. Regardless of whether or not they worked out, that’s it. The compensation the Lions got for Stafford is gone and this is the quarterback they have to make work. They also have to make that work with what they got moving forward. That means no extra first round picks in the next two drafts and their bridge guy in Bridgwater is gone. The Lions would have jumped a bunch of rebuild steps and went right to the point where they need to exclusively build around this quarterback. If it’s Justin Fields, that scares me. I know everyone thinks he’s super good, but it’s clear he needs time to develop. Does this Lions team win right away with him and his issues that he has to overcome? I don’t think so.

A similar situation happens with Parsons. The Lions get a great defender and then that’s it. I guess the point that I’m making is that the Panthers trade value immediately goes away after a year because the Lions use that value right away.

Of course the major positive though is that the Lions would have themselves in a better cap situation with Bridgewater. His hit on the cap in 2021 would have only been $4.4 million and that would have likely been that. Goff’s contract will affect the Lions cap until at least 2023. So maybe the Lions could have been more active in free agency this offseason and last. Still, the Lions have the 13th most cap space in the league going into 2022. They should still be set to make some moves, just not as many as that maybe could have.

Rams Offer
Two future first round picks, a 2021 third round pick and Jared Goff

With the Rams trade, it’s the opposite. The Lions, a rebuilding team, have assets to help them rebuild for the next two years. Not just any assets though, first round assets. First round assets are nice. The Lions have options here. The Lions can either use their acquired assets to get supremely-talented players, or they can use their assets to trade up or down. When you’re a rebuilding team, future assets help you down the road. With the Panthers pick, it felt the Lions would have been almost forced to hit the home run then because they wouldn't get another extra at base in a later inning.

Sure the Goff contract is hard to swallow, but it presents the Lions their best chance to evaluate their future at the position. The Lions can get their quarterback this April, or they can wait till the following draft. Maybe—and it’s a big maybe—Goff works out well enough that he winds up being the future the team is looking for. If he’s not, and the Lions do decide to go get their guy and move on from Goff, they can do that after the 2022 season.

Another point that shouldn’t go unnoticed, and hasn’t, is that the Lions did right by one of their players. After the Quandre Diggs and Darius Slay mishaps and the Calvin Johnson fiasco, the Lions did the right thing for a player that gave them all that he could. They could have easily traded him to Carolina and been done with it, but Stafford reportedly did not want to be a Panther. The Lions made that happen for him and they got a really good deal on their end, too. That sort of thing gets noticed by players both on the team and those thinking about coming to Detroit.
Free agents want to get paid and win championships, but they also want to be somewhere where they’re wanted and they’re being taken care of. This trade shows that they’ll be taken care of while in Detroit and they’ll be taken care of on their way out of Detroit.

At the end of the day, there are pluses and minuses to both deal, but there seems to be more pluses to the deal the Lions took with the Rams over the Panthers deal.

https://www.prideofdetroit.com/platf...stafford-trade

[-Deborah-]

Is anyone else interested in joining us to watch Matthew Stafford in his first Superbowl -- private jet flight to L.A. with a luxury suite! We need four more people to join us. We leave Saturday, February 12th from DTW and fly into LAX, staying till the end of the game and then flying back. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we will remember for the rest of our lives! Please PM me if you are interested. We prefer someone with a jet and a luxury suite; otherwise, we can't go.