Matthew Stafford knew he was leaving the Detroit Lions, although he wasn't 100% sure where he was going to end up. When the options presented themselves, Stafford stood there interested in the Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams.
One problem, the Carolina Panthers were doing whatever they could to make a deal work, and Stafford wanted no part of it.
In January the Panthers were trying to facilitate the deal, however Stafford consulted with his family and stepped in, according to Ian Rapoport. The Panthers offer included a prime first-round pick and Teddy Bridgewater, but Stafford and his family wanted to go to LA, and since the Lions were loyal to Stafford for all his hard work over the years, the Panthers were out.
Other teams who made offers included the Denver Broncos, Washington Football Team, New York Jets and Chicago Bears.
Here's more from the Stafford experience from Rapoport's report:
And of course, while all this was going down, Rams head coach Sean McVay was in Mexico, where he ran into Stafford. The two had dinner and multiple sources joked about the deal happening while they were in the hot tub in Cabo. The Lions had given teams permission to speak to Stafford and agent Tom Condon, so tampering wasn't an issue
The rest is history and Stafford and the Rams get set for their Week One matchup with the Chicago Bears.
Photo credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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