The Los Angeles Rams wasted no time in finding an alternative to quarterback Jared Goff this offseason following their disappointing exit from the playoffs.
They pulled the trigger on a blockbuster trade that saw them send Goff and three draft picks to the Detroit Lions in exchange for quarterback Matthew Stafford. Although their shortcomings under center became apparent down the stretch, the move still came as a surprise since he was just two years into a four-year, $134 million extension.
To make matters worse, Goff revealed that he did not have any contact from the Rams regarding his future with the team until the deal was made. For this, head coach Sean McVay has expressed some regret.
McVay admits that keeping Goff in the dark about his future was not the best way to go about it, via Cameron DaSilva of USA Today:
“Yeah. If you said, ‘Do you think that the way that it unfolded was totally different than the way anybody anticipated?’ Yes. Could I have handled it better in terms of, ‘Hey if there’s a possibility of it let’s get ahead, even if you’re out of town, yada, yada, yada?’ So to answer your question, yes. I wish that there was better clear communication,” McVay told reporters. “You don’t want to catch guys off guard. It came together a lot faster than anybody anticipated. But yeah, of course. Anytime that tough decisions and things like that, where people are affected, you always want to be as understanding and as empathetic as possible and think about it through the other person’s lens. And there are certainly things I would do it a little bit differently when those situations arise in the future. But I think Jared knows the respect that I have for him. I feel very good about the dialogue that we were able to have before he had gone to Detroit. He knows the appreciation that we as an organization, that I have as a coach for all the good things that he did here. But to say that it was perfectly handled on my end, I wouldn’t be totally accurate in that, but I’ll never claim to be perfect. But I will try to learn from some things that I can do better and I think that was one of them without a doubt.”
While Goff was admittedly caught off guard by the trade, he has not expressed any ill will toward his former team. Regardless, his return to SoFi Stadium for a matchup against the Rams this weekend has become a central storyline.
The move for Stafford has gone according to plan up to this point after securing two NFC Player of the Week honors while leading L.A. to a 5-1 start. Meanwhile, Goff still has yet to win his first game with the Lions and was recently called out by his new head coach Dan Campbell following their latest loss.
