When Jared Goff was traded for Matthew Stafford in 2021, it became one of the most shocking swaps in NFL history. With a single move, the Rams catapulted themselves into Super Bowl contention, while the Lions embraced the start of a rebuild. And for Goff, it was a moment that turned his world completely upside down.
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The former Rams QB joined the Glue Guys Podcast recently, where he detailed the trade and how he felt at the time. Many may forget the amount of excitement that surrounded the swap since it occurred during the heart of the offseason.
At the time, NFL pundits celebrated Stafford for finally landing on a team where he could make a legitimate Super Bowl run. But few focused on Goff’s side of the story — how, in an instant, he was uprooted from the team he had led to the Super Bowl in 2018, only to suffer a crushing 13-3 loss to the Patriots.
“It was a shock,” Goff said about the abrupt move. “It was your world getting flipped upside down all at once. I get the phone call from Sean [McVay], and a minute later it’s on Twitter. I mean, not even 30 seconds later.”
When the trade happened, everyone was excited for Stafford. Hardly anyone acknowledged that Goff was being written off by the Rams, as if they no longer believed he could get the job done after that crushing Super Bowl loss and a Divisional Round defeat to the Packers the following season.
But Goff has come a long way since then. He’s made the All-Pro team twice with the Lions and finished fifth in MVP voting in 2024. He’s still trying to get over his playoff struggles, but he’s in a great situation to figure that out. Goff has an All-Pro receiver in Amon-Ra St. Brown and other killer offensive weapons like Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta. Their GM, Brad Holmes, has done an excellent job constructing the roster around him.
But funny enough, Goff ignored Holmes’ calls for a while after the trade. In fact, he was ignoring everyone. He said his phone was blowing up, and understandably, he didn’t want to answer. Eventually, his agent checked in to help out.
“Brad and Dan [Campbell] were calling me, but I was getting a million phone calls. I was just kind of declining everything. So my agent texts me, ‘Hey, Brad’s trying to get a hold of you. Can you answer his call? He keeps getting sent to voicemail.’ And I’m like oh yeah, sure. And he’s on the phone like, ‘Jared, Jared! I finally got you! We’re so excited for you, so excited to have you here!’” the Lions QB said.
It was an unexpected welcome for Goff. He had never thought about receiving so much support after being acquired by a team. Right then and there, he knew the Lions were building something special — and he wanted in.
“And then I can hear Dan, ‘Jared, I can’t wait to have you here. We’re so excited.’ And right then it was like, holy smokes this is what you want. That feeling of someone breathing life into you and telling you how excited they are to have you… That moment I’ll never forget, like let’s do this. Let’s f*cking go. I can be a part of this. If those two guys believe in me then that’s all I need,” Goff recalled.
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The Lions record has improved every season since acquiring Goff. They got as high as 15-2 last season, a record that will be hard to top. But the regular season success is in the rearview mirror. Now all sights are set on the ever-elusive Lombardi Trophy.
Will Goff be the quarterback to lead Detroit to their first championship since 1957? I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out. But he’s hard to not root for. After all, who doesn’t like an underdog?
