Has covered the NBA and college football and basketball
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The Los Angeles Rams have placed punters Johnny Hekker and Corey Bojorquez on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the team announced Saturday.
That leaves the Rams without a punter listed on the roster for a Week 2 preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday night at SoFi Stadium.
The Rams did not immediately announce who could serve as a reserve punter.
For a fourth consecutive year, Rams coach Sean McVay has opted not to play starters in preseason action, and this year he has taken it a step further, resting several key reserves as well.
Quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and backup John Wolford will not play against Las Vegas.
It’s possible that McVay could test the fourth-down capabilities of backup quarterbacks Bryce Perkins and Devlin Hodges without a punter.
A fourth-year pro signed over the offseason, Bojorquez has been challenging the four-time All-Pro Hekker for the position.
Both punted twice in a 13-6 preseason loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1. Hekker averaged 45.5 yards per punt, and Bojorquez averaged 43.
Los Angeles Rams running back Cam Akers has a torn Achilles, and a source tells ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the second-year star is expected to miss the entire 2021 season.
Akers suffered the injury while working out and underwent testing to confirm the diagnosis, the source told Schefter.
The Rams announced Akers’ injury Tuesday morning but did not disclose an official timeline for how long he will be out.
Cam Akers sustains torn Achilles
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) July 20, 2021
Akers was expected to be the focal point of the Rams’ running game this season after his breakout rookie campaign, when he averaged 113.1 yards from scrimmage over the final seven games, including the postseason.
In 13 regular-season games total, Akers was the Rams’ leading rusher with 625 yards and two touchdowns on 145 carries. He also caught 11 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown.
The 5-foot-10, 217-pound Akers also had 272 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns in the Rams’ two postseason games.
Akers, 22, spent two games sidelined after suffering a rib injury in Week 2 when he awkwardly fell on the football. He also played through a high ankle sprain later in the season.
Selected in the second round (No. 52 overall) of the 2020 draft from Florida State, Akers shared time last season with Darrell Henderson Jr. and Malcolm Brown.
The officer was identified by Pittman later Friday as Officer William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force and a member of its “First Responders Unit.”
“It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the passing of Officer William ‘Billy’ Evans this afternoon from injuries he sustained following an attack at the North Barricade by a lone assailant,” she said in a statement not long after telling reporters the name of the officer would not be released until his family was notified.
During the press briefing, Pittman said the suspect in the attack, who brandished a knife after ramming his vehicle into a police barricade on Constitution Avenue and was subsequently shot by officers, had also died.
Federal and local law enforcement sources told CNN that the suspect has been identified as Noah Green. One federal source told CNN he was 25 years old.
An investigation into the attack is ongoing, Pittman said, but the immediate danger appears to have subsided. USCP lifted an hours-long lockdown of the Capitol Friday afternoon after law enforcement determined the “external security threat” had been cleared.
But while the suspect was quickly neutralized, the deadly incident undoubtedly serves as a stark reminder of the violent insurrection that occurred less than three months ago and the persistent security concerns that have been top of mind for many on Capitol Hill in the time since, despite a recent ramping down of some additional protective measures.
Swift response
Police and National Guardsmen responded swiftly as the situation unfolded Friday, immediately moving to secure the Capitol as initial reports of violence began to emerge.
“Just after 1 p.m., a man in a blue sedan rammed his vehicle into the North Barricade at the US Capitol, striking 2 USCP officers,” US Capitol Police said in a statement. “The Department immediately locked down the Capitol Campus. The man exited the vehicle with a knife and ran toward our officers. At least one officer, drew their weapon and shot the suspect.”
That sequence of events aligns with what a senior congressional aide and a US Capitol Police source told CNN earlier Friday. At the time, the sources said that after the driver of the vehicle rammed his car into a barricade on Constitution Avenue, the driver exited the vehicle brandishing a knife. Police responded, shooting the suspect and taking him into custody.
A law enforcement official told CNN at least one of the officers was stabbed.
Pittman said Friday that the suspect, Green, was not known to USCP before Friday’s attack. A review of Green’s social media shows he posted in the weeks prior that he had lost his job and suffered medical ailments, and said he believed the federal government was targeting him with “mind control.”
Less than two hours before he was shot and killed, Green posted a number of Instagram stories on an account that appears to belong to him, including links to other Instagram videos of Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan speaking.
“The U.S. Government is the #1 enemy of Black people!” a caption on one video read. In another post on the Instagram account, Green wrote last week that he believed Farrakhan had saved him “after the terrible afflictions I have suffered presumably by the CIA and FBI, government agencies of the United States of America.”
Heartbreak over yet another officer death
The death of Officer Evans has once again cast a dark cloud over Washington.
Only four USCP officers had been killed in the line of duty prior to this year, according to its data, but the department is now mourning the loss of one of its own for the second time in almost as many months.
The weight of losing yet another officer was evident in Pittman’s voice Friday as she informed reporters of Evans’ death, though he was not identified until later in the day, and again in a statement issued by the department that said members were “devastated” by the news.
That sentiment was echoed by President Joe Biden and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who offered their condolences to Evans’ family.
“Jill and I were heartbroken to learn of the violent attack at a security checkpoint on the U.S. Capitol grounds, which killed Officer William Evans of the U.S. Capitol Police, and left a fellow officer fighting for his life.” Biden said.
“We send our heartfelt condolences to Officer Evans’ family, and everyone grieving his loss. We know what a difficult time this has been for the Capitol, everyone who works there, and those who protect it,” he added.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Evans “a martyr for our democracy,” adding his death was “tragic and heroic.”
The top Republican in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said Evans’ “name will go down in history for his selfless sacrifice.”
“Once again, brave officers of the United States Capitol Police have been violently attacked while simply doing their job,” McConnell added.
Pelosi ordered that the flags flown over the US Capitol be flown at half-staff in Evans’ honor, her spokesman Drew Hammill said in a tweet Friday, and Biden also ordered the White House flags to be lowered to half-staff.
‘Much to be determined about this attack’
Details about Friday’s incident remain scarce though police officials said it does not appear to be terrorism-related.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas underscored the lack of clarity surrounding the situation in his statement Friday, saying that “there is still much to be determined about this attack” and committed his department’s full support to the US Capitol Police and to DC Mayor Muriel Bowser as the investigation is carried out.
Biden said Friday that he has “been receiving ongoing briefings from my Homeland Security Advisor, and will be getting further updates as the investigation proceeds.”
It remains to be seen how Friday’s attack might impact longer-term plans regarding security at the Capitol, a topic that has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks as many lawmakers and staff hoped to reclaim some sense of normalcy despite ongoing congressional investigations into the failures around the January 6 attack.
Barbed wire fencing that surrounded the Capitol complex for months after pro-Trump rioters stormed the building has since come down and thousands of the National Guard troops who were deployed in response to the insurrection have since returned home, though thousands still remain in Washington and were seen responding to Friday’s attack.
The National Guard later confirmed Friday it had been deployed to the Capitol.
“The DC National Guard deployed a Immediate Response Force (IRF) composed of National Guard soldiers and airmen to the Capitol complex this afternoon to support the U.S. Capitol Police. Due to operational security, we cannot discuss further details regarding the IRF,” the National Guard said in a tweet.
“No National Guard members were injured in the incident at the Capitol. Currently, approximately 2,300 National Guard members are in DC supporting local, state, and federal authorities in DC,” it added.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Kristin Wilson, Evan Perez and Josh Campbell contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Capitol Police officer was killed Friday after a man rammed a car into two officers at a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol and then emerged wielding a knife. It was the second line-of-duty death this year for a department still struggling to heal from the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Video shows the driver of the crashed car emerging with a knife in his hand and starting to run at the pair of officers, Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters. The driver stabbed one of the officers, Pittman said. Authorities shot the suspect, who died at a hospital.
“I just ask that the public continue to keep U.S. Capitol Police and their families in your prayers,” Pittman said. “This has been an extremely difficult time for U.S. Capitol Police after the events of Jan. 6 and now the events that have occurred here today.”
Pittman did not identify the slain officer or suspect. Authorities said that there wasn’t an ongoing threat and that the attack did not appear to be related to terrorism, though the Capitol was put on lockdown as a precaution. There was also no immediate connection apparent between Friday’s crash and the Jan. 6 riot.
The crash and shooting happened at a security checkpoint near the Capitol typically used by senators and staff on weekdays, though most are away from the building during the current recess. The attack occurred about 100 yards (91 meters) from the entrance of the building on the Senate side of the Capitol. One witness, the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, said he was finishing a Good Friday service nearby when he suddenly heard three shots ring out.
It comes as the Washington region remains on edge nearly three months after a mob of armed insurrectionists loyal to former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol as Congress was voting to certify Joe Biden’s presidential win.
Five people died in the Jan. 6 riot, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who was among a badly outnumbered force trying to fight off insurrectionists seeking to overturn the election. Authorities installed a tall perimeter fence around the Capitol and for months restricted traffic along the roads closest to the building, but they had begun pulling back some of the emergency measures in recent weeks. Fencing that prevented vehicular traffic near that area was recently removed.
Pittman said the suspect did not appear to have been on the police’s radar. But the attack underscores that the building and campus — and the officers charged with protecting them — remain potential targets for violence.
The officer who died Friday is the seventh Capitol Police member to die in the line of duty in the department’s history. Two officers, one from Capitol Police and another from Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, died by suicide following the Jan. 6 attack.
The suspect had been taken to the hospital in critical condition. One of the officers who was injured was taken by police car to the hospital; the other was transported by emergency medical crews.
The U.S. Capitol complex was placed on lockdown after the shooting, and staffers were told they could not enter or exit buildings. Video showed National Guard troops mobilizing near the area of the crash.
Video posted online showed a dark colored sedan crashed against a vehicle barrier and a police K-9 inspecting the vehicle. Law enforcement and paramedics could be seen caring for at least one unidentified individual.
President Joe Biden had just departed the White House for Camp David when the attack occurred. As customary, he was traveling with a member of the National Security Council Staff who was expected to brief him on the incident.
___
Merchant reported from Houston. Associated Press writer Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report.
Saturday’s first-round men’s basketball game between No. 7 Oregon and No. 10 VCU has been declared a no-contest due to what the Rams said were multiple positive tests within their program.
Oregon automatically advances to the second round, where it will play the winner of No. 2 Iowa vs. No. 15 Grand Canyon.
The Rams received multiple positive tests within the past 48 hours, coach Mike Rhoades said in a statement.
The NCAA said the decision to postpone the game was made “in consultation with the Marion County Public Health Department.”
“The NCAA and the committee regret that VCU’s student-athletes and coaching staff will not be able to play in a tournament in which they earned the right to participate,” the NCAA said in a statement announcing the no contest, which came about 3 hours before the scheduled tipoff.
This is the first NCAA tournament game canceled or declared a no-contest due to COVID-19 issues. The NCAA made Tuesday night its deadline for replacement teams to enter the field; no teams had issues at that time.
In order to get into the NCAA tournament’s controlled environment in Indianapolis, teams had to show seven consecutive days of negative COVID-19 tests. Once in Indianapolis, teams would undergo daily testing.
“We’ve been tested every day for the past three weeks, but within the past 48 hours we’ve received multiple positive tests,” Rhoades said in a statement. “We are devastated for our players and coaches. It has been a dream for all of us to play in the NCAA Tournament. We appreciate the care of our doctors and administration this year, and all our efforts and attention will be put into our players at this time.”
NCAA senior VP of basketball Dan Gavitt said before the NCAA tournament that a team can continue playing in the tournament as long as it has five “eligible and healthy” players. The NCAA tournament’s contact tracing and other COVID-19 protocols were expected to prevent a team needing to withdraw due to one or two positive tests.
“With the utmost disappointment, our men’s basketball program will head home from the NCAA Tournament,” VCU vice president and director of athletics Ed McLaughlin said in a statement. “We are heartbroken for our student-athletes, coaches, campus community and fans. Our team earned the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament. The members of our program did an excellent job following COVID-19 protocols all year, including since we arrived in Indianapolis, so ending our season in this manner hurts even more.”
A trade sending Rams defensive end Michael Brockers to the Detroit Lions was in the works Tuesday night.
Brockers, 30, a 2012 first-round draft choice who was the dean of the Rams’ defense, had five sacks in 2020, his most since 2013.
He was one of the Rams’ team captains and a vocal leader of the NFL’s top-ranked defense.
But the Rams nearly lost him a year ago when he agreed to join the Baltimore Ravens as a free agent, only to have that deal fall through before a contract was signed because the COVID-19 pandemic prevented Brockers’ injured ankle from being examined by a Ravens team doctor.
This time, Brockers’ departure is likely to go through.
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that the Rams asked Brockers to adjust his contract to help the team get under the salary cap – something they did Tuesday by restructuring the contracts of several other veterans – but the two sides couldn’t agree.
Terms weren’t immediately known for the trade, first reported by the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. But it’s likely to help the Rams get further under the cap.
Brockers was due to cost them $9.8 million against the cap in the second season of a three-year, $24 million deal.
Another Rams defensive end, Morgan Fox, is a free agent. Besides NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald, other defensive linemen on the roster include Sebastian Joseph-Day, A’Shawn Robinson and Greg Gaines.
Trades and free agent signings can be formally announced starting Wednesday, the start of the league league, including the other trade agreed to by the Rams and Lions earlier this winter, the one bringing quarterback Matthew Stafford to Los Angeles and sending quarterback Jared Goff and three draft choices to Detroit.
The Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams are making another trade together.
According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, the Lions are acquiring veteran defensive tackle Michael Brockers in a deal with the Rams.
It’s the second trade the two teams have struck this offseason as former Rams front office executive Brad Holmes now serves as the Lions new General Manager. They also reached an agreement earlier in the offseason to swap quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff as well as multiple draft picks. That trade can also become official finally with the start of the new league year on Wednesday.
Brockers has spent his entire nine-year career with the Rams. He’s started 136 of the 138 games he’s appeared in over that span with 28 career sacks. The 5.0 sacks posted by Brockers last year was the second-best mark of his career behind the 5.5 sacks he posted during his second season in 2013.
Per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Rams had asked Brockers to rework his contract and couldn’t reach an agreement. The Rams have been on the wrong side of the salary cap limit as the deadline to get their books in order approaches with the start of the league year on Wednesday.
However, Brockers may need to smooth things over with Goff now that they’re teammates again.
For weeks, the deeply flawed crown jewels of the 2016 NFL draft’s quarterbacks class presented the league with a pressing question about resolving a massive error. As the Philadelphia Eagles pondered the future of Carson Wentz and the Los Angeles Rams considered swapping out Jared Goff, onlooking NFL teams were mulling an issue that overarched both franchises.
Sure, you might find a trade partner willing to reboot the careers of Goff or Wentz, but what could convince a trade partner to eat the considerable amount of salary owed to each?
Well, the Rams just laid the blueprint. And for the second time since 2017, the league has what amounts to an NBA-style trade sweetener in exchange for eating a player’s massive salary. That’s one of the fundamental underpinnings of Saturday night’s stunning trade agreement that will reportedly send Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford to the Rams in exchange for Goff and three valuable draft picks — including first-round picks in the 2022 and 2023 drafts and a third-round pick in this year’s draft. Just in terms of the value, the trio of picks represents considerably more than most believed the soon-to-be 33-year old Stafford would net in a deal. The kicker was the Rams’ inclusion of Goff, including $43 million in guaranteed money that will have to be paid to him in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. It was that salary guarantee that put the Rams into a position of sweetening their deal for Stafford.
So what is absorbing $43 million in guaranteed money worth? Multiple league sources buzzing about the deal into the early morning hours Sunday said the Rams’ inclusion of a second first-round pick likely pushed L.A. over the Washington Football Team for Stafford.
Jared Goff (left) and Matthew Stafford, pictured after a game in 2018, are reportedly trading places. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
If that sounds a little like an NBA team selling off a toxic salary asset with a draft pick, that’s because it’s precisely what it is. And this is the second time the NFL has seen it happen since 2017. The other was the Houston Texans strapping a second- and sixth-round draft pick to Brock Osweiler, and sending that package to the Cleveland Browns for a conditional fourth-round pick. The catch in that one was the Browns using their ample salary-cap space to eat Osweiler’s $16 million in guaranteed salary, which the franchise ultimately did before releasing Osweiler before the 2017 season kicked off.
It’s highly unlikely the Lions will be making that kind of move with Goff, who was the toast of Los Angeles and considered a budding MVP candidate heading into the 2019 season following a 2018 campaign that saw him throw for 32 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, along with 4,638 passing yards. What the Rams got instead was a player severely limited by an offensive line that fell apart, leaving head coach Sean McVay into the first stages of a frustrating belief that Goff’s limitations may never allow him to outgrow a necessity for the coach to basically micromanage every part of the passing offense.
That 2019 season began painting the Rams into a troubling corner with Goff, who had just signed a massive four-year, $134 million contract extension before the season. It was a deal that appeared to make Goff untradeable or uncuttable until after the 2022 season. Of course, that was an ideology that didn’t take into account the Rams’ wide-open nature with some of their talent base, which has included absorbing some considerable cap hits while offloading talent. It also didn’t take into account the team’s aggressive use of its first-round draft picks to achieve necessary change.
Still, few in the league believed that a trade suitor could be found to take on what amounted to be a terrible contract after watching Goff struggle though the 2020 season. Many saw the Rams’ problems as similar to those plaguing the Eagles and Wentz, with the team strapped to a landslide of guaranteed money that other franchises wouldn’t want to import, especially at the cost of draft assets. What nobody seemed to consider around the league was the possibility of reversing the typical mechanics of a trade, with the Eagles or Rams sending their quarterback and his contract out of town with some draft picks to get an agreement done.
It was enough of a vexing issue that the Eagles didn’t even think twice about it. Instead, the team fired its head coach Doug Pederson and has leaned into a reboot of Wentz under a new coaching staff and at the behest of team owner Jeffrey Lurie. The Rams went the opposite direction. That made sense, given that the franchise would have never sacrificed McVay for Goff in the same manner that the Eagles pink-slipped Pederson to get a Wentz plan back on track. Instead, the Rams gave the league Saturday night’s blueprint for blowing up even the most pesky of contracts. Something like “strap a pick on it.”
Much like the Browns in 2017, it should give the NFL something to chew on as the league has always internally frowned upon such NBA machinations as auctioning off draft picks to create cap space or simply dump the commitment to big contracts. While it’s seen as creative in some quarters, the NFL’s issue with the maneuver is that it could tilt the playing field toward franchise owners who are willing to “buy” picks for cap space.
The difference in this case is Stafford and Goff provide the Rams and Lions with plenty of cover in this instance. Not only was Stafford a hot enough commodity to command a price that might have been higher than some suspected, Goff is still talented enough that a career reboot looks completely possible in Detroit, maybe even to the point of justifying the guaranteed money he’ll be paid through 2022. It’s possible that everyone walks away from this deal feeling very good about the commodities wrangled.
Truth be told, the NFL might be in a better place for it, too. If we learned anything in 2020, it’s that some teams do massive quarterback deals they end up regretting. And the league is better off with teams that are aggressively hunting ways to be the best on-field product they can be. If a team like the Eagles wants to hang onto a deal that doesn’t look so great and attempt to resurrect a player and justify it, so be it. But the Rams just showcased that it doesn’t have to go that way. As it turns out, practically anything can be remedied if a team is willing to spend its way out of it with cash or draft picks.
Including a contract that appeared to be untradeable only a few weeks ago.
Previously covered University of Michigan for ESPN.com and AnnArbor.com
Also covered Notre Dame for Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Lindsey Thiry
Close
ESPN
Covered Rams for two years for Los Angeles Times
Previously covered the Falcons
Has covered the NBA and college football and basketball
Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is heading to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for quarterback Jared Goff and a multitude of draft picks, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Saturday night.
The Lions will receive a third-round pick in 2021, a first-round pick in 2022 and a first-round pick in 2023 in what is the first exchange of former No. 1 overall picks in the common draft era (since 1967). The deal cannot be made official until the start of the new league year on March 17.
Following news of the trade, the Rams’ Super Bowl odds for the 2021 season moved from +1800 to +1500 at Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill.
It’s the first big move made by new Lions general manager Brad Holmes, who was hired earlier this month from the Rams, for whom he was the director of college scouting. That was Holmes’ role when the Rams traded up from the No. 15 selection to take Goff first overall in the 2016 NFL draft, making a splash in their return to L.A. after 21 seasons in St. Louis. The Rams will not make another first-round selection until at least 2024.
A source told ESPN the Lions had interest from seven or eight teams offering first-round picks as compensation for Stafford. Though the deal for Goff won’t necessarily preclude the Lions from taking a quarterback in this year’s draft, Goff told ESPN’s Jeff Darlington on Saturday night that he spoke with new Lions coach Dan Campbell, and that Campbell made clear through his message that Goff is in the Lions’ plans for the future.
When asked following Detroit’s final game of the 2020 season if he thought it was his final game with the Lions, Stafford said he did not want to get into hypothetical situations. Soon after the season concluded, Stafford went to Lions team president Rod Wood and mentioned a trade might be best for both sides.
Stafford, 32, will leave Detroit as the team’s all-time leader in every passing category. He is No. 16 all time in NFL passing yards (45,109) and passing touchdowns (282), No. 18 in attempts (6,224) and No. 14 in completions (3,898). His career passer rating of 89.9 is No. 21 all time, and his 144 interceptions are tied for No. 66 all time with Joe Flacco and Steve Bartkowski.
Stafford is No. 4 all time in passing yards per game (273.4), behind just Patrick Mahomes, Drew Brees and Andrew Luck. He also is second all time behind Luck in attempts per game (37.7) and is fourth in completions per game (23.6) behind Brees, Mahomes and Matt Ryan.
Stafford came into the league as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Georgia and became Detroit’s starter immediately. Injuries, including a separated shoulder, hampered his first two seasons in the NFL, but he went on to start all but eight games for Detroit since the start of the 2011 season.
When he had to miss the final eight games of the 2019 season due to fractured bones in his back, it ended a streak of 136 straight starts — at the time the sixth-longest consecutive starts streak for a quarterback in NFL history.
Stafford has dealt with a multitude of ailments over the years, including injuries to his ribs, ankle and right thumb last season. He also played in 2018 with fractures in his back and a proximal interphalangeal joint dislocation of the middle finger of his throwing hand in 2016, among other things.
While the Lions never won the NFC North with Stafford as their quarterback, he kept them largely competitive over the past decade as the team’s first draft pick after Detroit’s 0-16 season in 2008. Stafford had eight seasons of 4,000 or more yards passing and a 5,038-yard season in 2011, when he also threw a career-high 41 touchdowns. Stafford has thrown at least 20 touchdowns in every full season of his career — and at least 10 interceptions, as well.
Stafford already has friends and a place to stay on the West Coast: Stafford owns an estate in Newport Coast, southeast of Los Angeles in Orange County, and he is a childhood friend and former high school teammate of longtime Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.
Although the Rams didn’t confirm the trade, their official Twitter account tweeted at Kershaw, asking him: “Have you heard from an old friend today?”
Stafford has won just five of 16 matchups against his new division opponents in the NFC West. Goff, meanwhile, has won four of six against the NFC North.
Goff, who turned 26 in October, leaves L.A. after five seasons, including four under Rams coach Sean McVay, and with a 42-27 record. He made seven winless starts as a rookie under former coach Jeff Fisher, before the Rams hired McVay, who was known for his offensive acumen and ability to develop quarterbacks. McVay and Goff flourished in their first two seasons together, winning back-to-back division titles and an NFC championship.
The Rams awarded Goff a four-year, $134 million extension with $110 million guaranteed after he led the Rams to a Super Bowl LIII appearance. However, the offense never appeared the same after a 13-3 loss to the New England Patriots in that Super Bowl, as the Rams fell from a top-scoring team to an average unit over the past two seasons.
Issues between Goff and McVay became apparent during the 2020 season despite a 10-6 record. After a 23-20 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 12, McVay publicly called out the quarterback for three turnovers and demanded that the issue improve. Over the past two seasons, Goff ranked second in the NFL with 38 turnovers.
McVay opted to start undrafted free-agent backup John Wolford in a wild-card playoff game at the Seattle Seahawks despite Goff telling his coach he would be ready to play 12 days removed from surgery on his throwing-hand thumb. Wolford was forced to leave that contest in the first quarter because of a neck injury, and Goff, the only available backup, passed for 155 yards and a touchdown in the 30-20 win. After the game, Goff expressed disappointment that he did not start.
A week later, in a divisional playoff at the Green Bay Packers, McVay was forced to start Goff with Wolford sidelined because of his neck. Goff passed for 174 yards and a touchdown in a 32-18 loss.
After the Packers game, when asked if Goff was his quarterback, McVay said, “Yeah, he’s our quarterback, right now.”
Earlier this week, Rams general manager Les Snead did not provide a public vote of confidence for Goff when asked multiple times about the quarterback’s future with the Rams.
“Moving on from Jared Goff, that’s … the money we’ve invested in him, that’s not easy to overcome,” said Snead, who added later that “anything can be done” in a cap-based system.
The Lions will face the Rams next season at SoFi Stadium.
ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Matthew Stafford’s 12-season career with the Detroit Lions has come to an end after the team traded the 2009 No. 1 overall pick to the Los Angeles Rams for quarterback Jared Goff, two future first-round picks and a third-round selection, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Saturday.
It’s a new era in Detroit, with general manager Brad Holmes taking over the front office and head coach Dan Campbell patrolling the sidelines.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported on Jan. 23 that Stafford and the Lions had “open and healthy discussions” following the conclusion of the 2020 season, and both sides agreed the time was right to mutually part ways.
As for Stafford, a new home where he’s better positioned to compete for a Super Bowl at this stage of his career is probably the best move as opposed to taking part in a rebuild.
The 32-year-old now heads to Los Angeles after completing 64.2 percent of his passes for 26 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and 4,084 yards last year. He’s also one year removed from amassing a career-high 8.6 yards per pass attempt.
Stafford started for the Lions from Week 1 of the 2009 season onward. Although the team hasn’t enjoyed much success outside three playoff appearances, he has fared well as the Lions quarterback, completing 62.6 percent of his passes for 282 touchdowns and 144 picks.
Moreover, the Georgia product has done an excellent job forming rapports with a rotating cast of top receivers over the past few years. A Calvin Johnson-dominated core gave way to a group led by Golden Tate and Marvin Jones Jr. before Kenny Golladay took over as the team’s clear No. 1.
Now Stafford will be throwing to Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods and a new set of pass-catchers for the Rams when he moves to L.A.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles has made a seismic change at quarterback, inserting the veteran Stafford in for Goff, whom the Rams took with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft.
Goff’s numbers had taken a tumble in recent years, with his passing yards per attempt falling from 8.4 in 2018 (the team’s NFC title year) to 7.2 in 2020.
On Jan. 29, ESPN’sJeremy Fowlerreported, “Matthew Stafford considers the Rams a viable contender in his trade market with the Lions. While it’s unclear what the Rams can do with Jared Goff’s long-term deal on the books, they’ve explored the possibilities with Stafford.”
And now that possibility is a reality, with Stafford looking to lead the Rams back to the Super Bowl.
