The Detroit Lions made huge news on Saturday night by agreeing to send quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Goff, two first-round picks, and a third-round pick in return.
While most of the attention has been on the draft picks—and understandably so, two first-round picks is a huge return—there are also financial implications of this deal. With Jared Goff comes a pretty significant deal, and one that well supersedes the savings the Lions get from sending Stafford to the west coast.
Let’s break it all down.
Money saved from shipping Stafford
In 2021, Matthew Stafford was due to cost the Lions $33 million in cap space with a base salary of $9.