Yea they've been horrible in hindsight and to me that's the only real issue we've seen with this current regime. I have mixed feelings about the contracts tbh. The Goff contract made sense from the standpoint of getting out ahead of the $40M QB market which was around the corner. But we paid him after he played horribly in the SB. And down the stretch in 2018 he wasn't very good the last 7 games or so. But ultimately he played great in the NFC championship game and I think that's what got him the contract. However with 1 year left on his deal we could've waited. But if Goff had a monster 2019 we would've lost a lot of money not giving him a contract. So really I understand it and it was just unfortunate he didn't develop how McVay wanted.
The Gurley and Cooks deals are more unlucky to me because both releases were due to injury. Gurley was the best player on the planet for 2 years and then his knee just started failing him. Cooks couldn't stay on the field with all the concussions. These were 2 of our top 4 paid players. You cant have your top paid players not producing, you just cant. So I understand the releases and dead money. How do you predict those injuries when both players were amazing the year before? The one thing I respect about how Les and McVay have handled it, is they're not being complacent and compounding their mistakes. It would be very easy to have kept Gurley around, rolled with Goff for another year given the massive dead $. But they want to win bad. And if they don't think a player is producing up their standards they will get rid of them. No matter the name. You have to appreciate them recognizing a mistake and making necessary moves to keep us competitive.
Regarding Stafford, I've watched him play for a long time now. He's been one of my favorite QBs in the league, and I sometimes forget that other people don't watch football from around the league much. Not talking about prime time games because I'm sure most around here do. But when you're big into fantasy sports you watch other teams closely to evaluate players. I have zero questions about Stafford's talent, or his "lack" of ability to win big games in Detroit. Pairing him and McVay with the talent here in LA will be huge for us. We'll be competing for NFC championships for the foreseeable future. He's a great QB not only in structure, but outside of structure. And that is where Goff struggled. If McVay didn't win with a perfect play call, the play was normally dead. Or if Goff had pressure, the play was normally dead. You need a QB that can make big plays when things break down occasionally. And that's something Stafford excels in. He's not a running QB by any means but his movement in the pocket is similar to Rodgers' movement if I had to compare it. Escaping pressure, resetting his feet and making crazy throws from different platforms are all things we didn't have. That's not to mention his elite arm strength and how he's been one of the best on deep balls- TDs, accuracy and completion % for the past decade. My ONLY concern would be his health if I were to say anything. Because he will run through a brick wall and has taken some hits. But even when he's been nicked up he still plays through everything so
. And when I initially saw two future 1st rounders + a 3rd + Goff I did think it was a bit much... but I understood the cost of getting out from under Goff's contract. However once Albert Breer gave insight into the Carolina offer- Pick 8 (this year) + 4th rounder + Bridgewater...it wasn't an overpay at all.
