Matthew Stafford and the Lions will run into each other Sunday for the fourth time since a trade that reshaped the NFL.
Stafford went West to Sean McVay and the Rams and immediately won the Super Bowl -- with his eye on another -- while Jared Goff and a boatload of draft picks came to Detroit and set the Lions on their path to being one of the top teams in the league under Dan Campbell.
In an interview this week on the Let's Go! podcast with veteran sports reporter Jim Gray, Stafford agreed that both teams won the trade.
"Obviously I'm happy to be where I am, and I feel like the Lions obviously have capitalized on a lot of the picks and players that they were able to acquire in that trade," said Stafford, who spent the first 12 years of his career in Detroit. "Their franchise is as good as it's been, ever, in the last handful of years.
"So, two successful teams, really good coaches, good football programs at the moment, and, yeah, it looks like one that both sides got what they were looking for out of it. And I think as time goes on, we'll keep looking back on it saying the same thing because it seems to have worked out for both teams."
The extra draft capital, including first-round picks in both 2022 and 2023, enabled Brad Holmes and the Lions to maneuver for the likes of Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta and Jameson Williams. Those players helped the Lions win their first playoff game in more than 30 years and back-to-back division titles for the first time in the Super Bowl era.
Stafford was drafted first overall by the Lions at the age of 21. Now 37, he's playing the best football of his career, leading the NFL in passer rating (113.1) and passing touchdowns (35), with just four interceptions. He's on track to make the playoffs for the fourth time in his four healthy seasons with the NFC-leading Rams, after qualifying just three times with the Lions.
Stafford requested a trade from the Lions after the failed regime of Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia. Holmes and Campbell would have marked the third GM and fourth head coach of his tenure. Asked how he feels about his time in Detroit four years removed from the trade, Stafford said that "I still look back on it as just awesome."
"I had (formative) years there. I learned so much about myself. I learned so much about NFL football, tough times, getting through things. My entire family, all four of my kids were born there. I still have friends there that I care about. Still know people in their building and think about those people all the time. So, tough decision to leave, to ask to leave, but I love where I am now. I'm having a blast playing football, but I wouldn't change those 12 years there for anything. I think they've made me the player and the person that I am," he said.
Stafford left Detroit with a record of 74-90-1 despite setting all kinds of franchise passing records. His talent and reputation as a winner have been redeemed by his time with the Rams. Asked if any part of him looks back on his time with the Lions and feels like they wasted his talent, Stafford said, "No, because we were all trying."
"We were all trying to do our best, the front office, the coaching staff, the players, everybody we had was giving it their best effort. And sometimes it just doesn't work. We had some years that were good and thought we had some things going, and we had some other years that were obviously not up to par.
"So I don't think about it that way. I was just another guy who was in that building doing everything they could to try and help us win, and it didn't happen. But my career was no more important than anybody else's that was out there working their tail off for us to be good."