The Los Angeles Rams hired Sean McVay as their head coach in 2017. At 31, McVay became the youngest head coach in NFL history. In his second season, he led quarterback Jared Goff and the Rams to Super Bowl 53, and many expected the duo to stay together for years to come.
However, after the 2020 season, the Rams traded Goff and multiple picks to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford. McVay recently visited the “Fitz & Whit” podcast and discussed his biggest regret about the trade.
Sean McVay Opens Up About Blockbuster Trade
Stafford and Goff were both first-overall picks in their respective drafts—Stafford in 2009 and Goff in 2016. Stafford endured 12 tough seasons in Detroit, making the playoffs three times but never advancing beyond the Wild Card Round. Goff, meanwhile, made the playoffs three times in his five seasons with the Rams, including the run to Super Bowl 53.
In the 2021 offseason, McVay and general manager Les Snead saw an opportunity to make another Super Bowl run. They traded Goff, a third-round pick that year, and first-round picks in 2022 and 2023 for the veteran quarterback. The blockbuster deal turned out to be one of the most mutually beneficial trades in NFL history.
McVay, Stafford, and the Rams won Super Bowl 56 following the 2021 season, and Goff has been a critical piece to Detroit’s resurgence over the last two seasons.
McVay discussed the trade on his “Fitz & Whit” appearance after being asked who made the final decision on the trade, McVay: “It’s us collectively. It’s not just ‘Do you want him as your quarterback?’, there’s no doubt that’s what we want, but it’s the balance of what does it look like with if we can get something done, and then what does it look like without relative to maybe extra money you would have, draft capital you would get in return.
“What is the contingency plans in place if it’s not him? What does it look like after this stud isn’t our quarterback? Whether that’s two years from now here, or whether that’s this year. There’s a lot of layers and it’s always about collaborating.”
McVay didn’t have to deal with a contingency plan as his gamble paid off winning Super Bowl 56. The stacked list of players Detroit turned the three picks into include Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, Brodric Martin, Jameson Williams, Josh Paschal, and Ifeatu Melifonwu, who all became Lions after Detroit dealt the Rams’ picks for more draft capital.
The head coach continued, “I will say…when I look back on it, the Jared Goff situation could have been handled better on my part. In terms of the clarity of the dialogue in the midst of that. You never know which direction this is gonna go, but when you sit there and you say ‘I had some growing up to do. Could have done a better job for Jared.’
“There’s a lot more respect and etiquette he deserved in the way that was handled on my end. That was poor on my part and you want to make sure that as you try to apply your learning lessons from your mistakes that you’re at least trying to communicate with clarity.
“It doesn’t mean that they’re easy, but like I said earlier, people just don’t like being caught off guard. And this is something you have a lot of sleepless nights trying to figure out what’s best for the short and long-term.”
The two teams met in Detroit for the 2023 Wild Card Round and Stafford’s return to Ford Field. The Lions held on for an emotional 24-23 victory in a game where both quarterbacks played well.
McVay continued, “Ultimately, there are some business things where it’s like this is not your value to us, but this is how we’re trying to build out the whole team. You’re a total freaking stud and I understand that if I’m empathetic to the other person’s perspective you can at least have a better understanding, and that’s sometimes where the differences occur.
“Nobody’s right and nobody’s wrong there’s just differences in terms of where our responsibilities lie to the collective as the Rams head coach and then what he’s earned the right…in terms of the money that he can earn and he deserves based on his body of work and what he puts into this game.”
Goff signed a four-year, $212 million extension last offseason and was ranked No. 2 in PFSN’s QB+ metric putting up 4,629 yards, 37 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Stafford’s performance dipped in 2024 coming in at No. 22 in the metric after throwing for 3,762 yards, 20 touchdowns, and eight interceptions.
He wants to continue playing and is a big-name trade candidate after the Rams permitted him to speak with other teams. Whether Stafford will don a new jersey in 2025 remains to be seen, but the blockbuster trade will go down as one of the biggest in NFL history.
