It’s official. Quarterback Jared Goff is under contract through 2028.
The Lions announced the deal on Thursday morning. Per the release, “Additional contract terms were not disclosed.”
Not by the Lions. But here are the full details.
It’s a massive and impressive deal. The Lions, when they acquired Goff in 2021, surely never would have expected it. The Rams, who added a first-round pick to the Matthew Stafford trade package in order to get the Lions to take his prior contract, surely never would have expected it.
And here’s the real question that some in league circles have been asking. Who were the Lions negotiating against in giving Goff such a major deal?
As one league source put it, “Goff is the epitome of a team bidding against themselves.”
The Lions could have let it ride. They would have tagged Goff in 2025. They could have let him go to market and see if someone would have offered him anything close to what the Lions are paying — more than $47 million per year on a five-year contract, with a practical guarantee at signing of more than $148 million.
Kirk Cousins hit the open market this year, and he got $100 million fully guaranteed with an average from signing of $45 million.
The Rams did the same thing in 2019 as the Lions have done now, paying Goff a market-value contract when they didn’t have to. Two seasons later, they were giving up a first-round pick to get him off the books.
We’ll see how things go for the Lions and Goff. To his credit, he has taken his game to a higher level, likely because of the Rams deciding to hot-potato him out of town. Can he take the Lions to a Super Bowl, like he did with the Rams? Can he take the Lions to a championship, like he didn’t do with the Rams?
However it plays out, the Lions have placed their bet on Goff for at least the next few years.
