Although the Lions employ several former Patriots, their centerpiece player is not believed to have wanted to travel the other way in this recently formed pipeline.
Matthew Stafford informed the Lions he did not want to be traded to the Patriots, according to Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston. Other than a trade to New England, Stafford expressed flexibility about his destination, Curran adds. The Rams agreed to acquire the soon-to-be 33-year-old passer for a major haul Saturday night.
The Patriots were interested in acquiring Stafford, Michael Giardi of NFL.com notes. More than six teams sent the Lions offers for Stafford; it is unclear if any Pats-Lions talks progressed to that point.
While the Patriots are undisputedly this century’s most successful franchise and still employ arguably the greatest coach in NFL history in Bill Belichick, the team is low on intriguing skill-position players. Stafford is believed to have preferred a deal to Los Angeles, which presents usual recruiting advantages for free agents and trade candidates. In addition to those advantages, the Rams have two higher-end wideouts signed long-term and multiple promising young running backs.
New England does hold plenty of cap space, being projected to possess nearly $60MM — and that is if the NFL slots the cap at the previously determined $175MM floor. That could create an opportunity for the Pats, in an offseason when few teams will have considerable space. But they will need to look elsewhere for their quarterback answer, with Stafford bound for L.A.
that’s definitely not stafford in that pic
hahaha that’s hilarious!…good catch lol
Haha too funny
Good find
At least they didn’t use a pic from a team a player has not been on for 5 years. Sometimes I think they Google a player and take the first pic to pop up.
who is that?! who is #3?…..backup Chase Daniel is #4 i believe lol
The Lions QB to wear 3 was Joey Harrington.
lol wow that’s even worse….pic is like 10 years old than sheesh
It’s not that old, it’s Tom Savage in the picture.
makes more sense….The Wonder Years was a great show lol!
Must be Joey Harrington. He was #3. Savage only played for Houston, unless he was on a preseason roster for Detroit, or something. I don’t know his history
Jeff Driskel maybe?
NFLTR strikes again. They’re on a roll lately.
“Cocaine’s a hell of a drug.”
Lol nice picture of not stafford
Bro I love this site but their Stafford coverage has been shaky at best I mean come on y’all be a bit more on the ball
is that joey harrington?
Not a surprise the pats wouldn’t have paid that price for him unless he took a pay cut imo the rams paid way to much for him the guys a bum he’s done nothing with the lions even when they some talent and at least Geoff got you to the SB
@case troll alert.
Nonsense. Stafford is a heck of a player. Tough dude too.
What has he done in the NFL gone to the playoffs 3x and nothing else clowns
We can argue about whether or not he’s overrated, but he’s definitely not expensive.
Case –
Yeah, cause as we all know, the QB is the ONLY factor in how many times a team goes to the playoffs. The other 21 starters are completely irrelevant, as is the coaching, the salary cap, and the management. It’s all on the QB. That’s probably the main reason everyone considers Trent Dilfer a better QB than Dan Marino, right?
Found the butthurt pats fan
Didn’t want him I want them to rebuild not add a old overrated QB that will have a hard time with NE overly sophisticated playbook unless it’s someone who already knows it like Jimmy G they’d be better off with a rebuild
New England was a destination while Brady was there. No one really wants to play fir Belichek
Ur right about everything but firing Bill Belichick he needs to get a GM they has the same say as him basically take some of his power away and bring in some fresh DC and OC time to change the system it’s not going to work anymore it’s starting to sound like guys don’t want to come here because if you can trade the goat and he kinda hints at it’s true NE is not a fun place to play and now that they’re nowhere near being SB contenders y come here
Oh man you are a mess. So many things. Geoff?! Haha but seriously Stafford is a good QB. He is better than Jimmy for sure and can stay healthy. You said you wouldn’t want him because of how sophisticated the Patriots playbook is and then you claim it’s time to switch it up because it’s not working anymore. Well which is it? Also they never traded Brady like you claimed. So in conclusion basically nothing you said is accurate and you come across looking quite confused.
Speaking of “overly sophisticated,” how is the English language going for you?
Chief Two Hands –
You’re killing me man…that’s twice you’ve made me LOL already this morning. I appreciate a good sense of humor!
Who is Geoff, and what position does he play?
In all seriousness, Matt Stafford is a top 12 QB in the league. I don’t see how anyone can say he’s not good. That seems like salt.
He can’t win if he’s a “top 12 QB” they why didn’t he ever lead them to the playoffs or hell even be contenders he has ok teams he just bad that he can’t make the players around him better
For the record, Stafford is 14th amongst active QB’s in career QB ratings.
Incidentally, that’s one spot behind Goff!
He was 15th in QBR this season.
So he is solidly established as average, compared to the rest of the league.
Again, do you understand that Detroit has been a disaster or an organization for most of the last 40+ years now? What is your logic in blaming this on Stafford? If you can’t see that Goff clearly sucks and any success he’s had was based on the talent and coaching around him, then I cannot help you. 8 or 9 teams do not come after an “average” player with offers of first round picks, and I’m willing to bet these GM’s are just a little brighter than you are in terms of evaluating football talent. Stafford’s career would look a WHOLE LOT different if he played for an organization that had any clue.
Appalacian Outlaw –
Apparently Stafford stole Case’s girlfriend back in high school or teased him about his haircut. Dude has an axe to grind for some reason…too bad he doesn’t have any legitimate facts to back it up
Lions? Talent? Those aren’t often used in the same sentence!
Patricia now works there, not hard to figure out
Right?
Why is it necessary for this news to get out? It does nothing but add controversy. I understand the media will report it, but what’s the point of it being leaked in the first place? Childish.
Full No Trade Clause. Open to be traded to anyone but NE. It’s news. It’s the Patriots and Matthew Stafford. It’s news.
I agree it’s news. I’m not knocking the media at all. My question is why would someone leak this information to the media? The only thing to gain for that person is seeing Stafford pay in the form of backlash. Perhaps a New England source wanted people to know they tried? I don’t know. Again, it seems childish to me.
What backlash to not wanting to go to a team with no talent? Are they going to hit him harder when they play in another 6 years or so? Is someone not going to sign him if he is a FA because he didn’t go? This is reported all the time. Is this another NE fan wondering why they always get picked on?
Who’s logically going to blame the guy for not wanting to go somewhere without any talent at the skill positions? I don’t. Even Brady wanted far, far away from it.
Test
commenting issue?
Yea none of my posts are showing up in NBA
I’m having the same issue, contacted the staff and they have someone on it.
Same here, me neither on MLB side…I thought I was just being censored lol…. I tend to ruffle feathers sometimes and thought someone complained haha
My comments when I go on the desktop version say awaiting moderation. I haven’t cussed anyone out in a long whole so idk.
Due to Bill rehiring Patricia last week?
Would love to know why.
Belichick the GM has been underachieving. The Patriot roster is bereft of its usual understated talent. It matters not how much cap space a team has nowadays as only about a half dozen free agents each year are worth the money they are seeking and there are usually 6-8 other teams with enough cap space to make a competitive offer
Who would want to go to a team with an arrogant coach and no playmakers. How many did Belicheat cost ME with his arrogance?
I doubt that Stafford has an issue with the Pats as a whole but didn’t want to go there for the same reason Brady left. When Brady was heaving balls to Moss he was plenty happy but let’s face it the Pats aren’t good right now. Veteran players went there at a discount to win but that’s not going to happen anytime soon. Even BB needs players to win
Exactly. He wanted to go to a team with a chance to win. I don’t think I would want Deshaun Watson on my team…he actually wants to go to the Jets!
Patriots will win a SB way before the Rams or Lions. Believe that
Patriots dynasty is over. Over. Done. Finished.
Eh….
It’s ok, I seriously doubt the Patriots would have shelled out 1x 1st round pick, let alone 2 lol.
That and Matt Patrica is back in NWE, rumor has it those 2 didn’t exactly have a wonderful relationship (take that with a grain of salt)