Matthew Stafford’s Future With Lions In Doubt, Several Teams May Have Trade Interest In Him Next Year

According to Jason La Canfora, Lions QB Matthew Stafford’s future with the team is in “limbo” as they try to sort out the future of their football operations.

La Canfora mentions that Stafford’s future will be an integral part of the interviewing process for the team’s next GM, as the Lions will be drafting high in 2016 and could consider drafting a younger quarterback to build around.

This would allow them to move on from Stafford and his sizable salary, and possibly recoup some value in return him.

La Canfora spoke to several NFL teams after GM Martin Mayhew was fired on Thursday who said that they would have attempted to trade for Stafford at the trade deadline had they known big changes were coming.

Should Stafford be available, La Canfora expects there to be a “robust market” that could consist of teams like Jets, Bills, Browns, Texans, Eagles and Redskins.

Given that there are no guarantees remaining in Stafford’s deal after this year, La Canfora points out that he’ll be easy to trade.

Stafford, 27, has come under a great deal of criticism this year after the Lions got off to a disappointing 1-7 start to the season.

He has three years remaining on his five-year, $76.5 million contract that included $41.5 million guaranteed. Stafford will make base salaries of $9.5 million (2015), $17 million (2016), and $16.5 million (2017) over the remainder of the agreement.

This season, Stafford has thrown for 2,083 yards while completing 64.5 percent of his passes to go along with 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions over the course of six games. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the worst quarterback out of 35 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding Stafford’s future with the team as the news is available.