The best 2021 draft pick that the LA Rams could have offered to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford was 57th overall, which is considerably worse than what most teams could have offered from the 2021 draft. The Rams still managed to acquire Stafford without including 57 — a point I haven’t seen anyone make yet — but instead turned to the third round to give Detroit something in immediate compensation besides Jared Goff.
Thankfully, Les Snead had extra ammo in the third round thanks to two key departures:
- The Falcons signing Dante Fowler to a deal with a $15 million annual salary
- The Lions hiring Brad Holmes, the very GM who traded Stafford to the Rams
Those two losses will turn into three third round picks thanks to the compensatory formula for players leaving in free agency and the Rooney Rule for hiring minority candidates.