Trades within the division are rare. Trades involving quarterbacks within the division are even rarer Only two of note have happened in the past 20 years. One was in 2002 when New England dealt Drew Bledsoe to the Buffalo Bills. The other was when Philadelphia sent Donovan McNabb to Washington. That’s it. So the idea of the Detroit Lions sending Matthew Stafford to the Chicago Bears must be met with plenty of skepticism.
That being said, where does the quarterback himself stand? According to longtime radio host George Ofman, who has a lot of connections in the sports world, he revealed that the Bears have indeed made inquiries to Detroit about Stafford. It would appear the 32-year old quarterback isn’t opposed to the idea of heading south to Chicago. The Bears are one of four core teams he’d be willing to join.
Word I get is the Bears have made inquiries on Deshaun Watson and Matthew Stafford. The soon to be ex-Lions QB has them listed among his top four destinations.
It seems unlikely the Lions would trade him here.— George Ofman (@georgeofman) January 28, 2021
Whether the Lions would grant that request is another story.
They figure to have plenty of interest from other teams. It’s likely the Bears would have to make some sort of ridiculous offer to get them to listen. Something that even the aggressive Ryan Pace would likely balk at. Is there a frontrunner? Grant Cohn of Sports Illustrated and Ben Allbright of KOA News Radio both say that the San Francisco 49ers are the team to watch right now.
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It makes perfect sense. They have a ready-made roster to win now, a terrific offensive coach in Kyle Shanahan, a top defense, and are looking to upgrade from Jimmy Garoppolo who hasn’t been able to stay healthy. Adding Stafford would certainly make that team an immediate favorite in the NFC.
Have a messed up screen on my phone, hence the updates being sparse.
Lot of smoke around Niners and Stafford this week. In Mobile. We'll see.
Be back and active on here tomorrow.
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) January 28, 2021
Matthew Stafford is worth an aggressive push
People have always talked about him not being elite. The bottom line is the guy has never played with a great roster. Sure he’s had some quality weapons like Calvin Johnson and Kenny Golladay but not much else. Yet he’s managed to routinely top 4,000 yards every year, has 31 4th quarter comebacks, and made the playoffs three times. He would instantly be the most proven QB the Bears have had in many years.
Does that mean two 1st round picks should be offered? Yes, it does. Think about this. To date, Pace has produced Kevin White, Mitch Trubisky, Leonard Floyd, and Roquan Smith with his 1st round picks. Is, say, five seasons of Matthew Stafford peak play worth two such picks knowing this. Plenty of Bears fans would wholeheartedly say yes. Would another team make such an offer for a soon-to-be 33-year old QB? That’s hard to say.
In the end, it comes down to what the Lions want.
The standard operating procedure in the modern NFL is to make sure you do nothing to make a division rival better. Stafford would make the Bears better. At least in the short-term. Detroit would have to think they can eventually overcome Chicago a few years from now by utilizing those picks. It seems unlikely this would be the case. Crazier things have happened though. It’s likely this situation will move fast.
