On Friday, a report surfaced that Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford wanted a trade. But on Friday evening, Stafford's wife and his agent made it clear that he is happy in the Motor City.
Stafford's wife, Kelly, who actually fueled some of the fire surrounding Stafford trade talk with an Instagram post that seemed to welcome a trade to the Los Angeles Chargers a couple of weeks ago, said on Friday night that her husband wants to stay with the Lions, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
Stafford's agent, Tom Condon, then told Michael Silver of Sports Illustrated that Stafford does not want to be moved. He also stressed that all of the chatter by rival coaches and general managers about Stafford wanting out was just that: chatter.
The trade talk in reference to Stafford does make some sense.
Stafford is 32 years old, and the Lions are clearly in rebuilding mode, especially after having gone just 3-12-1 in 2019.
To be fair to Detroit, Stafford missed the entire second half of this past season due to a back injury. But even when Stafford was healthy, it seemed fairly clear that the Lions were not truly contending.
Stafford was actually very impressive when he was on the field in 2019, throwing for 2,499 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions. He also completed 64.3 percent of his passes and posted a passer rating of 106.0.
The Tampa, Fl. native, who played his collegiate football at the University of Georgia, was originally selected by Detroit with the first overall pick of the 2009 NFL Draft.
Between 2011 and 2018, Stafford did not miss a game and remained a very solid contributor for the Lions.
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