LOS ANGELES — The Detroit Lions are trading quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for quarterback Jared Goff, two future first-round picks and a third-round pick, a person with knowledge of the deal tells The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity Saturday night because the deal has not been completed. ESPN first reported the swap, which will include the Rams’ first-round picks in 2022 and 2023, along with their third-round pick this year.
The blockbuster trade of two starting quarterbacks and former No. 1 overall draft picks will provide a change of scenery for two players who probably need it.
Stafford asked to be traded shortly after the current season ended with the Lions’ third straight double-digit losing record. He has been one of the NFL’s most prolific passers during his 12-year career spent entirely in Detroit, but has never won a playoff game.
Meanwhile, the Rams’ coaching staff and front office have publicly expressed a clear loss of confidence in Goff in recent weeks, even after Los Angeles earned its third playoff berth and posted its fourth straight winning record during his four years under coach Sean McVay. Goff also led the Rams to the Super Bowl after the 2018 season.
Stafford, who turns 33 in February, has two years left on a $135 million, five-year contract.
The Lions had several offers for Stafford, and they all included first-round picks, according to another person with direct knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because those details were not announced.
Stafford was made aware of the teams who wanted to acquire him, and the Rams were one of the franchises he was excited about potentially joining, according to the person.
Stafford is new to the Rams, but he already has friends and a place to stay on the West Coast: Stafford owns an estate in Newport Coast, and he is a childhood friend and former high school teammate of Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.
The Rams didn’t immediately confirm the trade, but their official Twitter account tweeted at Kershaw, asking him: “Have you heard from an old friend today?”
The familiarity of these two franchises’ front offices likely helped the difficult deal: New Detroit general manager Brad Holmes just left his job as the Rams’ director of college scouting under Snead earlier this month.
Goff is about to start a four-year, $134 million contract with $110 million guaranteed — but just like longtime teammate Todd Gurley, he is leaving the Rams before his huge contract extension even begins.
Goff has been a steady winner since McVay’s arrival, but his high propensity for turnovers and lack of improvement over the past two seasons led McVay and general manager Les Snead to speak openly of a future without Goff in recent weeks.
Goff was the most recent first-round pick made by the Rams back in 2016. Snead has now traded away his top pick or moved back in seven consecutive drafts, making bold moves to acquire veteran talent including All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
Stafford is leaving downtrodden Detroit and heading to sunny Los Angeles with a chance to take the controls of a team that could be a Super Bowl contender next season.
The Rams went 10-6 and beat NFC West champion Seattle in the playoffs before losing at Green Bay. Stafford also appears to be a clear upgrade at the most important position for McVay, whose reputation as an offensive mastermind has taken several hits over the past two years while Goff and a stagnant skill-position talent pool struggled to execute his schemes effectively.
Goff frequently appeared to be a budding star in his first two seasons under McVay when the Rams ranked first (2017) and second (2018) in the NFL in points scored, but he hasn’t built on that success. His 38 turnovers over the past two seasons are the second most in the NFL, and the Rams’ inconsistent offence was largely carried this season by its defence.
Goff passed for 3,952 yards and 20 touchdowns — his lowest total since his rookie year — with 13 interceptions and six lost fumbles over 15 games last season. He missed the regular season finale with a broken thumb, but returned to play in both of Los Angeles’ post-season games.
During the 2020 finale, Stafford surpassed the 45,000-yard mark in the 165th game of his career — the fewest games an NFL player needed to reach that total. He threw three touchdown passes in that game against Minnesota, raising his career total to 282 .
Like many of Stafford’s accomplishments in Detroit, they were marred by a loss as the Lions fell to 5-11 last for their third straight double-digit loss season and his career record dropped to 74-90-1 in the regular season.
Shortly after last season, Stafford asked to be traded and spared from another rebuilding project.
The Lions asked him to wait until they hired a new general manager and coach, but luring Holmes from the Rams to run Detroit’s front office and giving New Orleans Saints tight ends coach Brad Campbell a shot to be a head coach again didn’t change his mind.
Detroit drafted the strong-armed Stafford out of Georgia with the hopes he could end the Lions’ drought of just one playoff victory since winning the 1957 NFL title.
Stafford became one of the NFL’s most productive quarterbacks, but went 0-3 in the 2011, 2014 and 2016 postseasons.
Indianapolis, Washington and San Francisco were among several teams believed to have expressed serious interest in acquiring Stafford, who earned his only Pro Bowl selection in 2014. Goff is a two-time Pro Bowl selection.
Staford was AP’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2011 after bouncing back from an injury-stunted start of his career. He is No. 16 on the league’s all-time list with 45,109 yards passing and 282 passing touchdowns.
Playing for a team that was often trailing, he led 31 fourth-quarter comebacks in his career and earned 38 victories with game-winning drives.
Detroit drafted Ohio State cornerback Jeff Okudah last year No. 3 overall, passing up on quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert.
The Lions have the No. 7 overall pick this year, and now that they have a veteran quarterback, they may draft a player to improve an awful defence. Detroit’s defence set franchise records by allowing 519 points and 6,716 yards last season, breaking marks set by its winless team in 2008 and ranking among the worst ever in the league.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
