QB Jared Goff says being traded to Lions ‘was the greatest thing that ever happened to me’

In 2021, the Lions and Rams agreed to a shocking trade that sent Jared Goff to Detroit and Matthew Stafford to Los Angeles.

Goff was handed the reins to a team that hadn't achieved a winning record in three years, and expectations were low. However, Goff can look back on that trade now and be pleased with how it went.

"In hindsight, (being traded to Detroit) was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, for my career and my development as a human," Goff said on the Trading Cards podcast, per the Detroit Free Press.

After a rocky first season with the Lions, winning just three games, the team developed quickly, and the next two seasons showed true promise for a bright future. The Lions had a 9-8 record in 2022 and finished second in the NFC North -- the same year Goff earned his third Pro Bowl selection. Then, in 2023, the Lions bounced back even better.

Despite what some might have expected of Goff when he first arrived in Detroit, he was ready to take on the challenge waiting for him.

"Being shipped off and being sent to a place to die, essentially, is what a lot of people think it was, and I was never going to allow that to happen," Goff said. "I'm fortunate enough to be around a lot of good coaches and players in Detroit that support me and help me reach my potential."

Detroit ended the 2023 season with a 12-5 record, top of its division and the NFC's No. 3 seed in the playoffs. During Wild Card Weekend, Goff and the rest of the team had the opportunity to win the franchise its first playoff game in 32 years, and they did. Goff beat his old club, the Los Angeles Rams, but he was not done there. After that, Detroit would go on to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Divisional Round, losing finally to the San Francisco