Georgia Football: Matthew Stafford has a new NFL home

Former Georgia football quarterback Matthew Stafford has a new NFL home.

Just eight days before Super Bowl LV, there has been a deal made that may determine who makes it to Super Bowl LVI. Former Georgia football quarterback Matthew Stafford is on the move. The Lions officially traded the former number one overall pick of the 2009 NFL Draft late Saturday night.

Stafford leaves the Lions as the franchise’s All-Time Passing Leader with 45,109 passing yards. Over his career in Detroit Stafford completed 3,898 of 6,224 passing attempts and threw 282 touchdowns.

Stafford is the career leader in these categories for the Lions:

• Wins (74)
• Completions (3,898)
• Attempts (6,224)
• Completion percentage (62.6)
• Yards (45,109)
• Touchdowns (282)
• Interceptions (144)
• Yards per game (273.4)
• Fourth Quarter Comebacks (31)
• Game-Winning Drives (38)

Stafford will now move west as he becomes a member of the Los Angeles Rams. The combination of Stafford and Sean McVay certainly could bring a Lombardi Trophy home to Los Angeles. Which is great news for Rams fans as the Rams haven’t had a legit quarterback since Kurt Warner was throwing to Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, and Marshall Faulk during The Greatest Show On Turf days.

Here are the details of the trade via Adam Schefter:

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1355714612101074944?s=20

The Rams traded what most-likely will be late 1st round picks. So it’s not like they were getting a top QB through the draft anyway, without trading those picks to move up. This way they get to fix their quarterback issue with a proven commodity instead of playing the lottery with a top draft pick. Remember, when Goff was draft the Rams were mulling over Carson Wentz or Goff, both have busted.

Not only does this trade fix the Rams quarterback problem, but it also gives them salary cap relief as it saves them salary cap space. Stafford’s base salary in 2021 is $9,500,000 however, he will make a $10,000,000 roster bonus as well. Even so, this saves the Rams an overall $15,950,000 when compared to the $34,950,000 they would have had to pay Goff had he not been traded.

As you can also see, via Pro Football Focus’s grades over the last four seasons, Stafford is one of the ten best quarterbacks in the NFL. Over that same time, with one of the best quarterback coaches in the league, Goff is just outside the top ten. With Stafford now joining forces with McVay expect his game to jump up to another level. Stafford going for 5,000 yards in 2021 is not out of the question.

McVay is not the only reason to believe Stafford’s stock in 2021 is up though. Stafford will also get an upgrade in weapons. Both Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp had over 1,000 total yards from scrimmage. They also combined for nine touchdowns while only fumbling three times. Josh Reynolds, Tyler Higbee, and Van Jefferson also have proven to be good downfield targets as all averaged over 11 yards per catch last season. However, Reynolds is a free agent and if the Rams don’t resign him there is a chance Jefferson’s role could be expanded in his second season.

Stafford will also be joining a number of other past Georgia football players in L.A. The Rams defense is loaded with them. Elite Edge Rusher Leonard Floyd made his presence felt in his first year with the Rams in 2020. J.R. Reed went from an undrafted free agent, to practice squad member, to finally cracking the active roster his rookie season.

Tyrique McGhee is still trying to make the jump to the active roster, but for now, he remains on the practice squad.

In conclusion, I would say this is a huge win for the Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams get a legit quarterback to run McVay’s system and Stafford gets to go to a team that has a winning culture. Not only that, but Stafford also gets to team up with some more Georgia football players as he had in Detroit with Isaac Nauta and D’Andre Swift.