Goff has not been good the last couple of years, but the whole offense has been stale since the Bears game two years ago. The Bears figured us out and the league followed. Our line can't pass block to save their lives and our offense is so predictable. I would expect more innovation and variety from McVay. Goff was in the pro bowl and the superbowl just a couple of years ago, so we know he has the talent. He was good enough then to be given a huge contract 2 years early.
I don't know what happened between him and McVay, but their relationship has fallen apart. Does McVay rub people the
wrong way sometimes? IDK.
The thing that really bugs me is the contract decisions that have been made. We didn't have to give Goff a new contract and he could have just walked this year, no cap crunch and no draft picks. His new contract doesn't start till this next year. We have really hurt ourselves with dead cap money the last couple of years. We wasted enough cap that could have filled every hole with quality players.
I think we will probably be better this year, but we have mortgaged our future by making bad decisions.
Couple of things.
I think the contract was in anticipation of exploding QB prices which proved to be true. The Watson contract was bigger and the Mahomes contract was MASSIVE... looked like a damned baseball contract... at the time, it made sense... if for nothing else, the economy of NFL QBs... and if Goff continues to play well, no one says boo.
I think there's something to be said for Goff not being able to adjust to McVay's offensive changes. Goff thrived in the simpler offense, but as defenses caught up, Goff didn't keep up. Was it partying or struggling to adjust? I dunno, but that jibes with what we saw on the field.
Lastly, it wasn't the Bears who figured us out, it was the Lions the week before. Yeah, we beat them, but they didn't fully commit to the 6 man fronts. The Bears did the next week and we had no answer. But it was Matt Patricia that figured us out (crap HC, smart DC). As the season wore on, more teams just game planned around sticking with that 6 man front which didn't really come to grab us until the next season as Gurley and CJ Anderson were prolific enough to compensate. Without an outstanding run game to compensate (loss of OL and Gurley fading fast), those fronts haunted us all year.
After spending most of the night really cogitating on it and watching some Lions vids, I'm really warming up to this trade.
The contracts are gonna have to be reigned in, no question. I think part of getting Goff out of the building is getting the last bad contract out. And it is. We have no more hulking contracts from under performing players.
But just from an arm talent, processing, vision and pocket mobility standpoint, Stafford is a pretty big upgrade. I was wrong. Mea culpa.
This still means we need to upgrade the C position... that's the TOP PRIORITY. But all that said, I think our offense is about to rip shit up.
I just hope we get OTAs and a real off-season to get Stafford fully into the offense.
And I'll say it now, the first few games will have hiccups and while I know any miscue will draw a ton of ire, I've been in the GDT before and honestly, I dunno if it could be worse for Stafford than it was for Goff in there...
