SF 49ers: Winners, losers from LA Rams deal for Matthew Stafford

Losers from Matthew Stafford Trade

Jared Goff

Despite playing under one of the league’s best offensive-minded head coaches, Sean McVay, and a deep array of offensive talent around him, Jared Goff took a step back the last two years and never managed to get past a 91.0 passer rating in 2019 and 2020, tossing a combined 42 touchdowns against 29 interceptions during that span.

Still, Goff was regularly in the playoff picture. Now, however, he gets to go to a Lions team ushering in a complete rebuild and lacking offensive talent around him.

At least he gets to keep his hefty contract in Detroit with $43 million in guaranteed money left.

Indianapolis Colts

In the wake of quarterback Philip Rivers‘ retirement, the Indianapolis Colts were considered to be hefty players on the market for Matthew Stafford’s services.

It’s not likely the Texans trade within their own division, the AFC South, meaning Deshaun Watson isn’t going to be an option for a Colts team essentially ready to win now regardless of Rivers’ departure.

San Francisco 49ers

Perhaps the only other options now are mid-tier ones such as the NY Jets’ Sam Darnold or the Philadelphia Eagles’ Carson Wentz, and neither should be considered much of a solution aside from a placeholder.

SF 49ers

Stafford would have been a major upgrade to the Niners’ quarterback room. Much like McVay, head coach Kyle Shanahan would have used Stafford in a way to give San Francisco a kind of quarterbacking it hasn’t seen during Shanahan’s tenure. And that likely would have been the key X-factor needed to get the SF 49ers back into playoff contention.

For now, at least, the Niners can still roll forward with Jimmy Garoppolo, although his $26.6 million cap hit scheduled for 2021 is going to make things a lot tougher for a team poised to lose a number of key players to NFL free agency this offseason.

San Francisco isn’t in the worst situation, though.

Garoppolo is still a starting-caliber quarterback, so this isn’t a scenario like the Colts who essentially don’t have a starter on their roster worth promoting. The SF 49ers also still have that No. 12 overall pick in a draft laden with some top-end quarterbacking talent.

Even if the Niners have to commit to Garoppolo this season, they’re still in a position where they can look for a long-term upgrade on a cheap rookie contract while asking themselves the same questions about Jimmy G in 2022, as his contract will still save a substantial chunk of money against relatively little dead money, just like it’s currently at now.

Currently, San Francisco is on the losing end of this deal, though, and it’ll have the unfortunate reality of trying to stop Stafford twice a year instead of benefiting from him over the course of a full season.