Former NFL quarterbacks haven't always spoken favorably of Matthew Stafford. Remember Boomer Esiason?
"Locker room lawyer."
Remember Rich Gannon?
"Overpaid stat king."
Put Hall of Famer Steve Young on the other side of the debate. Like, so far on the other side he disappears from view. In an interview Wednesday on KNBR radio in San Francisco, Young called Stafford a 'generational' quarterback who's due to succeed outside Detroit.
Could San Francisco be that place? Young said his former team would be much better off trading for Stafford this offseason than drafting a quarterback like Zach Wilson.
"Untested, young talent versus a kid that's been super-tested because he's been in Detroit — and I am not joking about that," Young said. "I don't want to overstate it, but it's not a career-enhancing place. It never has been.
"That’s why Matthew, in my mind, we all need to tip our cap to him, regardless of what he does, anything else, if he just retired today. I don't tip my cap for everybody. I would tip my cap to that kid for what he's been through, how he propped it up, how relentless he's been, how much he's gotten done."
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It's true: Stafford has three playoff appearances and zero wins over 12 years in Detroit. Also true: the Lions, in those same 12 years, haven't produced a single rushing attack that ranked in the top half of the league and have produced just two defenses that finished in the top 10.
Take the last two seasons alone. Stafford has a passer rating of 99.8 and a record of 8-15-1 -- a winning percentage of .333. All other quarterbacks with a passer rating of at least 99.0 since 2019 have a record of 205-104 -- a winning percentage of .663.
Young said he's always wondered what Stafford could do if he were set 'free' from the Lions, like Trent Dilfer leaving the Buccaneers. We'll find out soon.
"Trent Dilfer always said, the day he got to Seattle with Mike Holmgren, he’s like, the skies parted, the clouds went away and literally the sun shone down on me like I never thought was possible in football. And that’s what will happen for Matthew," Young said. "He’ll be like, 'I thought this was the truth, and it is the truth.'"
The 49ers are a logical landing spot for Stafford, should they chose to move on from Jimmy Garoppolo. They have a defense that's ready to win now and a top-15 draft pick to offer Detroit. It'd be a no-brainer for Young, who thinks Stafford still has plenty of gas in the tank.
"Unless there's a shoulder I don't know about or a knee I don't know about, or something else that's kind of degrading quickly that won't allow him to play five or six or seven more years and get him close to 40, that would change everything," Young said. "But let's just say he's generally healthy and can play until he's 39, 40 years old, there's no question that he is one of those handful of quarterbacks that is generational."