The first massive trade of the 2021 NFL offseason took place on Saturday evening when news broke that Matthew Stafford had been traded to the Los Angles Rams for Jared Goff and a slew of draft picks. How will this blockbuster deal impact your fantasy football team in 2021?
The fact that a trade transpired wasn’t surprising, but the fact that Rams were the ones who landed Stafford was. Even more surprising is that Goff is now the best quarterback on the Lions roster.
Sources: The #Lions are closing in on trading franchise QB Matthew Stafford to the #Rams in a blockbuster deal, per me and @TomPelissero. Jared Goff is headed to the #Lions.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 31, 2021
The Rams were not among the front-runners early on in the trade rumors and didn’t emerge as a possible landing spot until late in the week. Perhaps it shouldn’t have been as under the radar as it was though.
After all, Stafford and wife Kelly already own a home in the L.A. area, Matthew’s childhood friend Clayton Kershaw plays for the Los Angles Dodgers and current Lions general manager Brad Holmes was on staff when the Rams took Goff No. 1 overall back in 2016.
The exact details of the trade were as follows:
Rams receive: Quarterback, Matthew Stafford
Lions receive: Quarterback, Jared Goff | 2021 third-round pick | 2022 first-round pick | 2023 first-round pick
There is also a significant financial impact involved for both organizations.
Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Rams will inherit the two years, $43 million remaining on Matthew Stafford’s contract. The Lions will inherit four years, $106.6M remaining on Jared Goff’s contract. The Rams will carry a $22.2M dead cap hit in 2021 after trading Goff and the Lions will carry a $17.8 million dead cap hit in 2021.
Live on @nflnetwork breaking down tonight's monster trade that sends to Matthew Stafford to the #Rams and two first-round draft picks, a third-round pick and Jared Goff (and his contract) to the #Lions. pic.twitter.com/u3KACNjfr2
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 31, 2021
That’s serious for both teams. We’ll have to wait for the 2021 NFL season to kick-off to see how this all plays out. Until then, we can only speculate. And we shall. Today we’re going to speculate on something else, however, the impact that it has on fantasy football.