Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions, name a duo that seemed less likely to become an SI cover story when the two sides united via trade in 2021. But three seasons and one NFC Championship game later, Goff and the Lions have lived through bad times and surprisingly good times since the L.A. Rams decided to upgrade their quarterback position by trading two first round picks and a Super Bowl-playing QB for Matthew Stafford.
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The Rams immediately won the first Super Bowl with Stafford after the trade. The Lions are considered by many to be the favorites in the NFC to win the fourth Super Bowl after the trade.
In a combined effort for Sports Illustrated, writers Greg Bishop and Conor Orr highlighted how former Rams exec and current Lions general manager Brad Holmes has rebuilt the once-saddest franchise into a legitimate Super Bowl contender going into his fourth season on the job. An effort that remarkably might not be possible without making sure to get Goff coming back to Detroit in the trade, a sign that Goff says inspired him to look deep within himself to find what had been missing since being the number one overall pick in 2016:
And there it was, an early turning point for a franchise in dire need of a makeover. Goff heard something he hadn’t heard in a minute: excitement. The people running the Lions were excited to have him. “I hadn’t felt that way in quite some time,” Goff says. He considered the contrast to how things had ended with the Rams, and he told himself, “We have a chance to do something special here. Is it going to be easy? No. Going to happen? For sure? No.” But at least he, at least they, had a chance.
Probably the most valuable loss that the Rams felt in 2021 was seeing Holmes blossom into arguably the hottest commodity in the NFL right now at general manager. It’s not like the Rams would have ever fired Les Snead (although some fans still wish that would happen) and promoted Holmes unless the situation got really bad, but it seems clear now that the Lions made perhaps their best decision in the Super Bowl era to hire Brad Holmes.
Since his appointment as general manager, including the trade to get Goff and two first round picks for Stafford after he had requested to be traded anyway, Holmes has added the following players through the draft: RT Penei Sewell, DT Alim McNeill, WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, DE Aidan Hutchinson, TE Sam LaPorta, RB Jahmyr Gibbs, LB Jack Campbell, DB Brian Branch, as well as WR Jameson Williams, S Kerby Joseph, S Ifeatu Melifonwu, CB Terrion Arnold (rookie), DT Levi Onwuzurike, and QB Hendon Hooker.
In free agency, the Lions have added players like G Graham Glasgow, G Kevin Zeitler, RB David Montgomery, DT D.J. Reader, DE Marcus Davenport, LB Alex Anzalone, and traded for CB Carlton Davis. Earlier this offseason, the Lions extended Goff to a contract that pays him $53 million per season.
The Lions have also managed to convince star offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to stick around and finish the job of winning a Super Bowl before he takes a head coach job somewhere else...unless maybe Johnson hasn’t gotten any solid offers yet, which seems improbable given Detroit’s top-5 offense in each of the past two seasons.
The Rams had a huge hand in helping Goff and the Lions get this far. If they have their way in the 2024 playoffs, the Rams will also be the ones to guarantee that the Lions do not get to the Super Bowl.
