Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that there’s “significant” interest in a trade for Lions QB Matthew Stafford right now and a deal could be agreed to before the Super Bowl.
New Lions HC Dan Campbell tells Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press that trade talks with interested teams have gotten “hot and heavy.”
A league source tells Josina Anderson that the Lions are looking for a team to “overpay” right now.
Yesterday, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported that Stafford considers the Rams to be a “viable contender” to trade for him this offseason.
Fowler added that while it’s unclear what the Rams can do with Jared Goff‘s contract on their books, they’ve explored the possibility of acquiring Stafford.
Reports surfaced last weekend that the Lions and Stafford mutually agreed to facilitate a trade in the coming weeks and it didn’t take long for teams to start reaching out.
Nearly a third of the league has reportedly reached out to the Lions about a trade for Stafford.
The expectation has been that it would take at least a first-round pick for the Lions to agree to trade Stafford and considering the number of teams that could use a quarterback of his caliber, it would not be surprising to see Detroit secure multiple early-round picks.
A trade will likely be completed for Stafford prior to the fifth day of the 2021 league year, which happens to be when Stafford is due a $10 million roster bonus.
By trading Stafford, the Lions would carry $19 million in dead money while netting $14 million in cap space and $20 million in cash.
Stafford, 32, is a former first-round pick of the Lions back in 2009. He was in the final year of his five-year, $76.5 million contract when he and the Lions agreed to a five-year, $135 million extension back in 2017.
In 2020, Stafford appeared in all 16 games for the Lions and completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 4,084 yards, 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 112 yards.
We’ll have more regarding a potential Stafford trade as the news is available.
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