Joe Person of The Athletic, citing a league source, reports that the Panthers are among the teams involved in trade talks with the Lions for QB Matthew Stafford.
Person notes that new Panthers GM Scott Fitterer told reporters in his introductory press conference that they will be “in on every deal.”
The Panthers also have “legitimate” interest in Texans QB Deshaun Watson, according to Person and other reports.
Earlier in the day, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported that there’s currently “significant” interest in a trade for Stafford and a deal could be agreed to before the Super Bowl.
The Lions and Stafford mutually agreed to facilitate a trade in the coming weeks and nearly a third of the league has reportedly reached out to Detroit about the veteran quarterback.
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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