Last year’s Super Bowl-winning quarterback and current division rival of the San Francisco 49ers didn’t think he’d be where he is.
Matthew Stafford joined Los Angeles Rams teammate Jalen Ramsey on the Straight Off the Press podcast and discussed his move to the Rams. He admitted the Rams were way down the list of teams he expected to be traded to.
“Now, did I think I was going to the Los Angeles Rams? That was the last team I would have ever thought I was going to,” Stafford said. “I thought I was going to be across the bay in San Fran. I thought San Fran. I thought maybe Washington.
“I thought I was going somewhere else because of the situation that was going on here at quarterback and the contract and all that kind of stuff. I never knew that that was even a possibility.”
Kyle Shanahan maligned the way the Stafford trade went down, saying that he never really got a chance at Stafford.
He was in Mexico, as were both Sean McVay and Stafford. Shanahan was told the night of the trade that nothing was going to happen and then quickly after, a warning that if he didn’t do something, Stafford would be gone.
Shanahan said he never had a chance, at that point, to make a move for Stafford. McVay and the Rams closed the deal, sending Jared Goff, two first-round picks and a third-round pick to the Detroit Lions.
The 49ers made their move for Trey Lance in the draft and will hope to get a real look at him next season.