Detroit Lions Look to Trade Matthew Stafford

Rumor has it the Lions’ front office and Matthew Stafford have reached a mutual agreement to part ways this offseason. The move already has many Lions fans feeling like their parents are getting divorced as they prepare to say good-bye to their comeback king, the player who brought a good deal of excitement to Lions’ football for more than a decade. 

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Stafford was drafted in the darkest portion of the franchise’s history, during the offseason following the Lions’ winless season in 2008, and by 2011 he was throwing for over 5,000 yards and 41 touchdowns. He took the Lions to the playoffs for the first time since the Barry Sanders era, making appearances in 2011, 2014 and 2016. 

Though he has never won a playoff game, he brought the excitement of playing in the postseason to the city of Detroit. His connection with Calvin Johnson and the records they broke will enshrine them both in Lions’ lore forever, not to mention that they are both going to end up in the Hall of Fame for their work together.

On top of what Stafford did for the Lions’ franchise, he seemed destined to play in Detroit and be a great player on a forever losing team. Stafford went to the same high school as Bobby Layne, a Lions legend who was the last quarterback to lead the Lions to a championship back in 1957. 

Oddly enough, Bobby Layne supposedly cursed the Lions after being abruptly traded in the offseason following their championship season in ‘57. 

The story goes that Layne was told over an abrupt phone call that he would be traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers and he was offended by the timing and the conduct of the Lions front office in conducting the trade behind his back. Layne was an aging quarterback but still in good shape, much like Stafford now, but the Lions decided to go with a younger player at the position to avoid a more serious rebuilding period in the future. Layne declared that the Lions would not win another championship for 50 years, and the year the curse was up, the Lions went 0-16 and drafted Matthew Stafford that following offseason.

Being from the same high school as Layne, Matthew Stafford was actually excited to be drafted to the Detroit Lions and break the curse of his hometown football hero. Unfortunately, that never panned out for him or the organization and it looks as if he will have to go elsewhere if he seeks to win a Super Bowl before his time in the NFL is up. 

This time, unlike with Bobby Layne, it seems that this trade is a mutual agreement between the future Hall of Famer and the front office. Perhaps this will bring the story of the “Curse of Bobby Layne” full circle and the Lions will be free of the evil clutches of the vengeful spirit world. That will be nice for Lions’ fans, but where does that leave Matthew Stafford?

CBS Sports reports that Stafford is most likely to end up in Washington, Indianapolis, San Francisco, New England or Denver. 

The Lions are looking for a high price on Stafford’s head and expect to get a first-round draft pick and then some, most likely to be used in acquiring the next franchise quarterback for the organization. 

That puts Denver, New England and San Francisco in the lead for acquiring Stafford, as they will have the highest value first-round picks while Indianapolis is currently betting favorites to land Stafford. 

It is important to note that Stafford isn’t being traded just to help rebuild the Lions, he also wants to win a Super Bowl, so watch for that to play into where he goes this offseason. More likely than not, he is going to end up on a team he sees as most likely to give him a chance to win. 

With Washington situated as a strong team in a weak division, and their number one issue being that they don’t have an elite quarterback to complement their great defense and running game, Stafford might find Terry McLaurin and Washington’s breakout star at tight end, Logan Thomas, to be good weapons in his quest for a Super Bowl title.

But, San Francisco was in the Super Bowl in 2019 and was only sub-par this season because of an absurd amount of key injuries. With Stafford on the 49ers, they could become a seriously dominant team once again in 2021.

Wherever Matthew Stafford ends up though, this trade is the best move for both him and the Lions for years to come, even if it hurts Lions’ fans to say goodbye.