That’s a lot to give away for sure. As we all know, things didn’t turn out super well for the Vikings and the Cowboys built a dynasty off the players they were able to get back. This had us wondering, are there aspect of this trade that makes the Lions trading Stafford for Jared Goff and picks this generations Herschel Walker trade?
Obviously you have to strip away the bad from it. The Cowboys pulled off one of the biggest fleeces in sports history on this trade while the Vikings got one playoff season out of it and then Walker was gone two years later.
The part to really focus on here is how the trade helped growth. Especially on the Lions side of things. The Rams got a Super Bowl out of it, but the Lions essentially got a brand new franchise out of it. One that has broken the norms around Detroit and made the Lions a Super Bowl contender.
For reminder’s sake, the trade was Matthew Stafford to the Rams for Jared Goff, a 2021 third-round pick, a 2022 first-round pick and 2023 first-round pick.
As we mentioned above, the Rams got a Super Bowl. Here’s what the Lions got out of the deal:
For starters, the Lions pulled off the very rare feat of getting a quarterback that was supposed to just be part of the deal and be a bridge guy and then became one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. They got the ability to jump start their rebuild without having to go out and get the big piece.
With the third-round pick they got in 2021, they selected safety Ifeatu Melifonwu. A guy that came on really strong in the back half of the 2023 season and now figures to be a major rotational piece of the Lions defense going forward.
With the 2022 first-round pick, through trades the Lions were able to move that thig around and come out with Jameson Williams and Josh Paschal. The former is expected to be a huge part of the Lions offense in 2024 and the latter seems to be getting better as the years go on. We haven’t seen Paschal’s ceiling yet. It could be big when we do.
With the 2023 first-round pick, the Rams did the Lions a favor by being a bad team and making that pick a high one. Through trades they were able to walk away with Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta and Brodric Martin.
Gibbs and LaPorta just came off huge rookie years. LaPorta was an All-Pro tight end and Gibbs made the Pro Bowl. Both are expected to be huge for the Lions in 2024. Martin has been a project so far, but it’s encouraging that he showed up to training camp in tremendous shape.
So there you go. Can you make the comparison? In a way you can. The Lions were able to significantly grow because of this trade. It’s the bed rock for which the current team sits upon. Just think of what could have happened if the Lions had to draft a quarterback in 2021 or 2022. It would have been really bad and the Lions are surely not the team they are today.
Still, it’s hard to look away from the idea that the Walker trade was so one sided. It really didn’t work out for the Vikings. For that reason it’s hard to call this trade this generations Herschel Walker trade. It still has to be called one of the most impactful trades of this generation though.