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How Jared Goff turned Rams trade into Lions best run of Super Bowl era
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- How Jared Goff turned Rams trade into Lions best run of Super Bowl era
For Jared Goff , the emotions are gone.
"We're still talking about it? All right, go ahead," Goff said Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the Lions ' facility in Allen Park.
Five years after he was traded from the Los Angeles Rams to the Detroit Lions in a blockbuster deal that reshaped both teams, and as he gets ready to face the franchise that drafted him − and then gave up on him − for the fourth time, Goff insists there is no special sentiment about playing his old team.
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"Not so much anymore, no," Goff said. "And really, I mean we played them in the playoff game [that] was such a big deal and then the next year we played them again and I felt like even less. So now it's even further removed and, yeah, they're a really good team and we'll have our hands full."
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff, left, and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford during the coin flip before the start of the game at SoFi Stadium, Oct. 24, 2021 in Inglewood, Calif.
The Lions traded Matthew Stafford to the Rams for Goff and three draft picks in January of 2021 in the first major move of the Dan Campbell-Brad Holmes era .
The Rams won Super Bowl 56 in their first season with Stafford at quarterback, and are the betting favorites to do so again this season, while the Lions used the chips from that trade to help build one of the best rosters in the NFL .
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Along with Goff, who made the Pro Bowl two of the past three seasons and finished fifth in MVP voting last year, the Lions acquired a third-round pick in 2021 and first-rounders the next two years from the Rams. They used the third-rounder on since-departed safety Ifeatu Melifonwu , used one of the first-round picks as part of the compensation to move up and draft Jameson Williams , and moved down with the other in a deal that netted Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta .
LaPorta is out for the season with back surgery , while Gibbs and Williams are two of the league's most dynamic playmakers.
INSIDE STORY: How Lions kept Matthew Stafford trade request secret in critical time
Asked if the deal was a win-win for both teams , Lions coach Dan Campbell said Wednesday, "Look, I know we're excited, and I'm sure they're excited.
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"I know on our end we're fortunate to have the guy we have and to get all that we were able to get. We got [ Penei ] Sewell, we got Saint [ Amon-Ra St. Brown ], we got a lot of good players, and we've got Goff. So, I know it feels like a win for us and I'm sure they do, too."
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) looks to pass against Green Bay Packers during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025.
For Goff, the deal initially felt like a stake to the heart .
The No. 1 pick of the 2016 draft, Goff led the Rams to a 13-3 record and Super Bowl appearance in his second full season as starter in 2018, then quickly fell out of favor with Rams coach Sean McVay.
The Rams failed to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl, losing 13-3 to the New England Patriots , and missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record the following year. When they suffered an early playoff loss the next year, McVay couldn't hide his disdain for Goff and dealt his quarterback to the Lions two weeks later.
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In Detroit , Goff has reshaped his career, bouncing back from some early struggles – the Lions started 0-10-1 in 2021 and 1-6 in 2022 – to lead the Lions to their most successful three-year stretch of the Super Bowl era. He took the Lions to the NFC championship game in the 2023 season, and won a franchise-record 15 games last year while playing for a fanbase that chants his name and a coach whose belief in him has infused him with confidence.
"It feels like a long time ago," Goff said of the trade. "And I think we kind of talked about it earlier in the year of how it's kind of my career now I've spent more time here, so yeah, it certainly feels like a long time ago."
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff hugs Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford after the Lions' 24-23 win in the NFC wild-card game at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan, 14, 2024.
Goff played five seasons with the Rams and is in his fifth with the Lions. In Detroit, he has more games played (78 to 69), passing yards (20,221 to 18,171), completions (1,800 to 1,536), touchdowns (141 to 107) and most importantly wins.
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The Lions are 47-30-1 with Goff as their quarterback. Goff went 42-27 as the Rams starter.
Goff is 2-1 in games against his old team. The Lions lost to the Rams, 28-19, in Goff's first trip back with the Lions to SoFi Stadium in 2021, when Stafford threw three touchdowns and Goff had two picks, then beat LA in the playoffs in the 2023 season and again in the 2024 regular-season opener .
The playoff win was Goff's first as a Lion, the franchise's first in 32 years and seemed to exorcise whatever demons Goff still felt from the trade.
Goff was complimentary of Stafford this week, calling Stafford, the MVP favorite and NFL leader in touchdown passes , "one of those guys you like to watch on tape."
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And Goff said the only rivalry now is one between the Lions and Rams on the field. The Rams (10-3) can clinch a playoff spot with a win Sunday, while the Lions (8-5) need a victory to enhance their chances of a third straight playoff appearance.
"I think we're both really good teams," Goff said. "I got so much respect for those guys over there and how well they're playing, how well they're coached. Certainly, the film I'm watching of their defense is really impressive and coach [Chris] Shula's doing a great job [as defensive coordinator], and then obviously we know what they're doing on offense, scoring all the points, Matthew's playing really well and the whole thing. So yeah, we've got our hands full and got to find a way to win."
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Bluesky , X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jared Goff turned Rams trade into Lions best teams of Super Bowl era
