The Los Angeles Rams spent five seasons and a huge contract on Jared Goff before deciding it was in the team’s best interest to trade him up, ultimately landing Matthew Stafford the right to go to the Super Bowl. Five years into his career with the Detroit Lions and earning a massive contract, will Goff be traded again for an upgrade?
That’s the question many are coming to terms with after the Lions were shutout in an embarrassing loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday, in which Goff committed five turnovers.
In five seasons with the Rams, Goff was 42-27 as a starter, although he was 42-20 against Sean McVay. In the playoffs, Goff achieved a record of 2 wins and 3 losses, with a passer rating of 79.9, which was significantly lower than the 91.5 in the regular season.
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In five seasons with the Lions, Goff compiled a 47-33-1 record as a starter, not much different from the success he had in Los Angeles. But those numbers will be even better when Ben Johnson becomes the full-time play-caller in 2022, especially if the Lions go 27-7 from 2023 to 2024.
However, the Lions are just 2-2 in the playoffs under Goff, and they are unable to win in 2025.
Without Johnson and an equally good offensive line, the Lions are just 8-8 on the season.
While Jared Goff’s statistics over the past few years have been pretty staggering— 129 touchdowns, 38 interceptions, 103.7 passer rating since 2022 — The Detroit Lions really aren’t more successful because his. What’s more likely is that the Lions are a well-oiled machine on offense with a lot of talented players and Goff Won’t mess it up When these pieces gel.
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Unfortunately for Detroit, it doesn’t gel right now, with Goff not possessing the skillset as a stationary quarterback and offering little threat as a deep passer to elevate the players around him when everything falls apart.
For example, Goff ranks just 17th in deep pass attempts this season (36), and on those passes, his passer rating of 87.6 also ranks 17th.
The Rams spent two first-round picks to get Stafford, who leads the NFL with 9 TDs/0 INT and has a 132 passer rating on those same throws. Los Angeles traded Goff for Stafford so Sean McVay could have a quarterback who could make difficult throws, rather than just one who didn’t make too many mistakes. After all, the Rams won’t have Andrew Whitworth, Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods and Todd Gurley forever. It’s easier to ensure that if all those pieces are gone, at least the quarterback can still be a star.
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That’s why the Rams survive from 2023 to 2025, because the base around Stafford has changed.
The Rams are 30-16 over the past three seasons when Stafford starts, which is actually worse than Detroit’s record under Goff (35-15). However, under Stafford, the Rams are 5-2 in the playoffs (more wins than Goff’s 4-5 mark) Profession playoff record), they will make the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
The Lions have not made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons since 1993-1995.
Now it’s time for the Lions to decide whether this team is historically talented enough to do something no team has done before: help Jared Goff win more than two playoff games in the same postseason.
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Or could it be time for Brad Holmes, the general manager who left the Rams to join the Lions and saw what happened in Los Angeles as they upgraded, to do the same for Detroit.
With Joe Burrow hanging on the market as a potential blockbuster option, would the Detroit Lions be willing to trade Goff and two or three first-round picks for a better quarterback? Or do they still believe that all Goff needs is three, four, five more Pro Bowl-caliber players around him?
He hasn’t been able to get the job done with the Rams in five years. He hasn’t been able to finish a job with the Lions in five years. How many years is another team willing to bet on Jared Goff?