Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Jared Goff Sounds Off on the Rams Lack of Maturity and Feeling of Betrayal When Traded to the Lions

Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Two teams, two former number one overall selected quarterbacks, and one trade. That is how it went down in 2021 when the Los Angeles Rams traded away their 2016 number one overall pick, Jared Goff, to Detroit in exchange for the Lions’ 2009 number one overall pick, Matthew Stafford.

While there were other bits and pieces to this deal, the main focus of the trade revolved around the mega swapping of the two quarterbacks involved. The deal came out of nowhere, and not only was it a shock to the Rams and Lions fan bases, but to the NFL community in general.

Looking back, things definitely worked out for the Rams as they would go on to win the Super Bowl in Stafford’s first season in LA, and Goff has also come close to getting back to the big game, especially in the past two seasons. Both teams still have potent rosters, but Goff revealed in Netflix’s ‘Quarterback’ docuseries how he felt betrayed at the time of the trade.

Joe Burrow. Kirk Cousins. Jared Goff.

Quarterback Season 2 is NOW PLAYING. pic.twitter.com/qWLvwj2hht
— Netflix (@netflix) July 8, 2025

Goff Accuses Rams of Being Immature

Nearly four years after Goff was traded from Los Angeles to Detroit, the 4-time Pro Bowler has opened up about his feelings toward receiving this news from his then-head coach Sean McVay. The Lions QB mentions in the docuseries how he felt betrayed and unwanted, and the call that he received came out of the blue, as he had no inclination of what was going on.

“Three weeks after the last game of the season, get a call from Sean and really did not expect anything. He lets me know they’re trading me to Detroit. I’m like Whoa, okay, all right. What’s happening? And..I would say about 30 seconds after that phone call, it was on Twitter.”

What was really disturbing for Goff was the fact that this decision from the Rams came out of nowhere, and that there wasn’t any real effort to sit down with him and explain to him the reason behind the organization’s desire to move on. The veteran signal caller felt that the situation lacked any maturity to it.

“You feel like you’ve been betrayed, or like you’re not wanted, and I think, for me, ultimately, it was the fact that there wasn’t a conversation had and that there wasn’t a, ‘Hey, we’re thinking about moving on,’ type of thing, there was nothing. You wish that it wasn’t such a blindside and you wish that there was some sort of maturity, I guess, to have that conversation, to be able to let me know what was going on and how things went down, and why this is happening.”

Jared Goff opens up on Netflix's Quarterback series 😳

“You wish there was some sort of maturity… You wish it wasn’t such a blindside.”

Too harsh or fair? 👇 #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/q4yQP4oain
— LAFB Network (@LAFBNetwork) July 8, 2025

How Has the Trade to Detroit Worked Out for Goff?

Initially, when Goff left LA after the 2020 season, he was leaving a team that had just lost in the divisional round of the playoffs, and one that had lost the 2018 Super Bowl. From there, he joined the 5-11 Detroit Lions team that struggled for the first couple of seasons.

In Goff’s first season in Detroit, the Lions finished 3-13. But they were on the rise the very next year, finishing the 2022 season 9-8, but missing the playoffs. However, the past two seasons have seen a complete turnaround as the Lions reached the NFC Championship Game and the Divisional round of the playoffs, respectively.

Detroit now has the roster to compete with the top teams in the league. The offense has quality receivers in Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and pass-catching tight end Sam LaPorta, while the backfield is managed by Jahmyr Gibbs. On defense, the Lions have a decent roster as well, which means Detroit’s window for winning a Super Bowl still remains open.

Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Detroit Lions

Jared Goff

Los Angeles Rams

NFL

Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!