Breaking up is hard, especially when you get blindsided. Jared Goff found that out the hard way when he picked up the phone in January 2021. No warning, no heads-up, just a call that would flip his entire world upside down. Sean McVay was on the other end, delivering news that would send him from Los Angeles to what was then one of the NFL’s most struggling franchises.
How Did Jared Goff React to Getting Traded to Detroit?
The 2020 NFL season wasn’t Goff’s best with the Los Angeles Rams, but he still threw for 3,952 yards, 20 passing touchdowns, and four rushing touchdowns. Tension filled the air as his performance went up and down throughout the year. When he broke his thumb in Week 16, John Wolford stepped in to replace him.
Despite the struggles, the Rams made the playoffs. When Wolford got hurt, Goff was pressed back into action despite his injury. He gutted it out and finished with 155 passing yards and a touchdown in their 30-20 Wild Card win against the Seattle Seahawks. The quarterback showed his toughness again in the Rams’ 32-18 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round.
But all that toughness couldn’t prepare him for what came next. In January 2021, Goff got the call from McVay that changed everything.
“He lets me know they’re trading me to Detroit… I’m like, okay, what the hell is happening?” Goff said. “You feel like you’ve been betrayed… You wish there was some sort of maturity to have that conversation.”
Goff finding out he was traded from the Rams to the Lions in 2021pic.twitter.com/bQOlcGJglm
— Barstool Detroit (@BSMotorCity) July 8, 2025
The trade sent Goff, two first-round picks, and a third-round pick to Detroit for quarterback Matthew Stafford. Meanwhile, the Rams’ general manager famously said, “F*** them picks,” as Los Angeles went on to win Super Bowl LVI against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021.
How Did Goff Turn His Career Around in Detroit?
Goff’s first season in Detroit was rocky. He was up and down in 2021 with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions as he adjusted to a new system and new teammates. However, by the start of the 2022 season, everything clicked. He had mastered Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson’s offense.
Playing behind a physical offensive line and throwing to athletic receivers, Goff completely reinvented himself. He threw for 4,438 yards, 29 touchdowns, and only seven picks that season. The transformation was complete.
Since then, he hasn’t looked back. The former first-overall pick has thrown for 9,204 yards, 67 touchdowns, and 24 interceptions in the last two seasons. The sweetest moment came when he got revenge against his old team. The Lions beat the Rams in the Wild Card round in 2023.
Even though Johnson has since moved on to be the head coach of the Chicago Bears, Goff still has plenty of weapons around him. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams line up on the outside, Sam LaPorta anchors the tight end position, and Jahmyr Gibbs provides explosiveness in the backfield.
Looking back, Goff says the trade was “my first real taste of true adversity and your career is kind of at a fork in the road.”
That being the case, it’s easy to say that Goff took the right path at that fork.
