Kirkland Crawford| Detroit Free Press
Don’t you dare send me to the New England Patriots.
That, apparently, was the directive Matthew Stafford gave the Detroit Lions, as they sought offers from teams to appease their franchise quarterback’s trade request.
Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston reported Sunday that Stafford told the team they could “send him anywhere but New England.”
“This comes from a source whose team was heavily involved in Stafford trade negotiations but failed to land him,” Curran wrote.
GRADES: Lions get exactly what they need by sending Stafford to L.A.
We know the Lions had seven or eight offers for Stafford, and all included a first-round pick, but they squeezed two future firsts from the Los Angeles Rams and a third-rounder in exchange for Jared Goff and his contract, after coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead soured on their former No. 1 overall pick.
But back to Stafford and New England, which is in need of a long-term solution at quarterback.
Sure, the northeast weather might not be attractive to Stafford, who played his college football at Georgia and half his games every year at Ford Field in a dome — Los Angeles sounds pretty nice right about now, as the Detroit weather continues to be freezing cold.
But what if there’s more to it than the location and weather? What if it’s the Patriot Way? And Matt Patricia and his mentor Bill Belichick?
BIRKETT: Stafford trade shows how big a rebuild GM Brad Holmes has on his hands
SEIDEL: Lions’ new regime impresses by trading Stafford and emerging with nice options
Patricia, Stafford’s head coach with the Lions the past three seasons before his post-Thanksgiving Day firing, is back in New England with Belichick to assist the coaching staff.
Stafford, who turns 33 on February 7, seemed to get worn down by the grind and losing of the Patricia tenure, as the Belichick disciple and his fellow Patriot Way friend, GM Bob Quinn, traded away some of the team’s best talent, including Golden Tate, Quandre Diggs and Darius Slay. They brought in numerous former Patriots, so Stafford would have great intel about playing in New England, along with moving his wife and four young daughters out there.
Patricia came to Detroit in 2018, fresh off another Super Bowl appearance as the Pats’ defensive coordinator, and immediately rubbed people wrong by trying to recreate the Patriots’ environment, while doing so without connecting with his players. He got better at it after Year 1, but the results — particularly the awful defense, which was his baby — did not, as the Lions went 13-29-1 before his firing November 28.
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As for Goff, he told NFL Network’s Michael Silver, “I’m just excited to be somewhere that I know wants me and appreciates me.”
Big if true, but let’s see how long that lasts.