The Detroit Lions traded Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams as a result of that workforce was prepared to cough up a number of first-round picks — one thing nobody else would do — whereas throwing in a third-round choose in final 12 months’s draft and Jared Goff.

Seems a type of first-round picks is successfully a second-rounder.

Stafford led the Rams to a 23-20 comeback win on Sunday in opposition to the Cincinnati Bengals in Tremendous Bowl LVI. So the Lions will maintain the ultimate choose of the primary spherical — No. 32 — along with its picks at No. 2 and No. 34.

That’s actually not what common supervisor Brad Holmes hoped for when he made the commerce, though he mentioned he at all times knew this end result was attainable and has no regrets about it. He selected that provide over not less than seven others in line with a league supply, all of which included first-round picks and not less than considered one of which included a top-10 choose in final 12 months’s draft.

Two first-rounders is sweet, though one top-10 choose might need been nicer now that Stafford has taken Los Angeles to the highest of the sport whereas sinking Detroit to the underside of the primary spherical.

“I believe it labored out for each side,” Holmes mentioned. “You already know, Stafford’s a superb participant, and the Rams are a superb workforce. So it labored out for them, and in trade, we acquired compensation that may assist us alongside the way in which.

“You already know, I’m not shocked by their success they’ve had, or his success.”

Nobody ought to be. That was already a extremely good workforce, and Stafford has been a extremely good quarterback for a very long time now. He set each main franchise passing report in his 12 seasons in Detroit, and virtually all of the minor ones too. There isn’t a web page of the report ebook with out his identify on it. It was by no means sufficient to save lots of a workforce that fell into disrepair throughout his latter years, though he nonetheless willed Detroit to extra comeback wins than some other quarterback since he was drafted in 2009.

Nonetheless, that wasn’t sufficient to fulfill some who may by no means recover from his lack of ability to save lots of Detroit from an unsavable scenario.

In only one season in Los Angeles, any lingering hate towards the blokes feels purely performative.

Stafford instantly led a superteam to heights it was by no means in a position to obtain with out him, rating among the many league’s greatest quarterbacks whereas main L.A. to its second-best report in 20 years (12-5) and a championship in maybe the perfect division in skilled soccer (NFC West).

Then the playoffs rolled round, and he delivered a efficiency for the ages.

Stafford throttled former No. 1 total choose Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals earlier than main three straight fourth-quarter comebacks en path to a world championship, together with launching a 44-yard moonshot that despatched Tom Brady into retirement on the buzzer within the divisional spherical. Per week later, he led L.A. to a different comeback win in opposition to San Francisco and punched their ticket to the Tremendous Bowl.

Then on the game’s greatest stage, with 100 million individuals watching throughout the globe, Stafford did it for a 3rd straight time. That man actually threw a no-look cross by way of three defenders within the remaining two minutes of the Tremendous Bowl, and hit Cooper Kupp between the numbers for 22 yards, giving the Rams a primary down within the shadows of the crimson zone.

Stafford capped the 15-play, 87-yard drive by feathering a 1-yard winner to Kupp alongside the appropriate boundary, cementing his legacy-altering comeback win. He completed with three landing passes within the sport, and accounted for 11 touchdowns and three interceptions within the postseason run total.

He joined a superteam, and made it higher. Cooper Kupp had a profession season enjoying with Stafford, very like Calvin Johnson, Marvin Jones and Golden Tate did earlier than him. Stafford actually wasn’t good — he led the league in interceptions through the common season, and threw two extra within the remaining sport — however continued to return up large within the greatest moments.

He completed with 14 landing passes and no interceptions within the fourth quarter, tied for probably the most landing passes with out an interception by any quarterback within the final 30 seasons.

Most watching him in Detroit knew he was able to this. Now the entire world does, too.