Cal Football: Rams to Trade Jared Goff to Detroit for Matt Stafford

Jared Goff is moving from Tinseltown to Motor City.

The former Cal quarterback is being traded by the Los Angeles Rams — along with draft picks — to the Detroit Lions in exchange for Matt Stafford, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

The Lions will receive a third-round pick in 2021, a first-round pick in 2022 and a first-round pick in 2023 in what is the first exchange of former No. 1 overall picks in the common draft era (since 1967), according to ESPN.

The deal cannot be made official until the start of the new league year on March 17.

Goff, who broke nearly every passing record while at Cal from 2015 through ’17, was taken No. 1 in the 2016 NFL draft by the Rams.

He helped the Rams reach the Super Bowl two seasons ago but his play has regressed the past two seasons.

Goff, 26, signed a four-year contract for $134 million, including $110 million guaranteed, before the 2019 season. That was considered a significant obstacle for trading Goff, which has been widely hinted at by Rams coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead.

Goff passed for 4,688 yards with 32 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 2018, his second season as the club’s full-time starter. But he threw 29 picks and led the NFL in turnovers over the past two years.

When Goff injured his right thumb in the 15th game of this season, requiring surgery, John Wolford, who had never played in a regular-season NFL game, started the regular-season finale. Wolford also started the playoff game against Seattle, although Goff played most of that game after Wolford suffered a neck injury.

But it was not until Wolford was ruled out three days before the playoff game against the Packers that Goff was named the starter for that game. The inference is that McVay might have started Wolford against Green Bay if he had been healthy.

Snead, asked to address the issue earlier this week, told reporters, “What I can say is Jared’s Goff’s a Ram in this moment.”

Pulling the trigger on the trade for Detroit was new general manager Brad Holmes, who was hired earlier this month from the Rams, their director of college scouting.

It was Holmes who helped sell the Rams on trading up to get the No. 1 pick in 2016 that they used to select Goff. The Rams did not have another first-round selection until 2024.

Goff now will play in the NFC North, also home — at least for now — to fellow former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers.

Stafford, who will turn 33 next week, has passed for more than 45,000 yards with 282 touchdowns in his 12-year NFL career, all with the Lions.

He has played in three playoff games and lost all three. He secured his only Pro Bowl spot in 2014. But he has 30 wins since 2009 when trailing in the fourth quarter, most in the NFL.

Stafford also has a big contract that runs through the 2022 season. In August 2017, he agreed to a five-year, $135 million extension, which made him the highest paid NFL player at the time.  He is scheduled to earn $20 million in 2021, including salary, roster bonus and workout bonus.

Cover photo of Jared Goff by Mark J. Rebilas, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo