Bullet Bill Bentley lol. He was a CB. He was one of the million guys Mayhew brought in to play opposite Chris Houston. Spoiler Alert: it didm’t work out!
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Third rounder, if I remember correctly. I want to say he gave us signs of life but was then injured and never lived up to what was hoped. He did go play another place or two, but he never really developed.
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Carlos doesn’t know anything more about this subject than he knows about football, which is very little. Saying that the tells are there that Stafford may wish to move on as they put their home on the market, his wife talked about LA and he has seen how dysfunctional decisions are made in this organization.
If I am the owner, I apologize to Matt but I explain I need him and don’t believe trading him will help in any way.
[added emphasis warranted]
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Carlos admitted last week that he really liked & respected Patricia. So between now & the end of the season, his columns will be extremely negative about the Lions. The only reason he got along with Patricia was because Matt was a lot nicer to the media in his 2nd season as HC and he & Carlos bonded.
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Michael Rothstein might disagree.
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Which is a complete 180 considering he was the journalist who made a big deal about the running of laps and MP losing the locker room back in 2018.
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People don’t comprehend how much they are played by those in the sports media always taking a contrarian position. Sure, some of the articles can seem convincing, sincere even. But, it’s what they do. It’s their schtick. It’s truly quite troubling that more people don’t comprehend that. All media should contain a Surgeon General’s warning.
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I do think it’s time both parties separate. I do think there are different definitions for different people. But for me personally, a rebuild suggests something was destroyed that needs rebuilding and/or something needs to be torn down completely to be rebuilt. You can’t tear something down and also keep the same foundation. If you rebuild, you take down everything, clear away everything, and start from scratch. Otherwise it’s a renovation, not a rebuild. I don’t want a renovation.
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And don’t forget the Jags. They are always picking at the top of the draft as well.
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Pat Kirwan said it even seeps down into the mock drafts. The “expert” will submit his actual mock draft, and the powers that be make him change it up just for clicks and something different.
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The only QB in this draft that has any argument to move to is Laurence. While I don’t believe he has the same level of throwing ability Stafford does, he is younger, bigger and more mobile so you can make an argument.
There are several guys who can win if the roster is good, but few actually elevate the team:
Favre - he never took his team farther than the talent suggested. He ran up against the Dallas and SF teams each year and never beat either one with a very good roster.
Marino - was never able to take his team anywhere without a running game. He participated in a SB early, but never even made a serious run after that.
Montana, Young, Bradshaw, etc… played with a lineup of HOF talents and never had to carry anyone.
Stafford has carried the Lions. The record is not what he or the fans would like, but he has been the one to take weak teams to the playoffs and to wins that weren’t possible with an average QB. When he had 8 4th quarter comebacks, he hurt his finger and played with a brace at a limited capacity with little help. That was a 0-1 win team without Stafford. None of the others have made that much of a difference on that team. Rodgers certainly is good compared to his backup and he may be the only one that has actually taken a team farther than the talent suggested who won a SB. He has been the best QB I have seen, but Stafford brings some things he doesn’t. If the teams were reversed my guess is that Stafford would have at least one SB if not another.
Fans need to get off the “blame the QB and HC” roller coaster. Both are dependent on a whole group of pieces doing their jobs, injuries and bad draft choices and luck. The biggest mistake the Ford Family does over and over is watch their stars without any plan on how to support them and give them a platform to thrive. First Barry, then Calvin and Stafford. Until this organization understands that they have a responsibility in this equation, nothing will change. Two dimensional players like Barry & Calvin are easy for fans to support as they are not nearly dependent on others. Stafford is dependent on all sorts of factors. The lack of support publicly by the organization is one of the biggest reasons fans don’t recognize what a special talent he is and what a monumental failure it would be to let him go. The Ford Family simply doesn’t get any aspect of what is needed.
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LOL, how about Tom Brady? Joe Montana? Peyton Manning?
Tell us how Stafford is better, JR.
I think Carlos is the worst beat writer out there.
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My opinion on this topic has changed several times.
On one hand, we need to do a complete rebuild with the new coach and GM.
On the other hand, we have a top 10 NFL QB and these types of QBs don’t come around every day. Look at Indianapolis and Minnesota who have had to employ multiple journeyman QBs with the departure / injury to their planned franchise QBs in Luck and Bridgewater.
The QB position has been the one position that we really haven’t had an issue with over the past 10 years. It’s one of the hardest positions to shore up and moving Stafford adds to the level of uncertainty in the whole team.
I feel that we owe it to Stafford to get him somewhere where he can compete for a ring (as he has maybe 5 - 6 years left in his career) but his departure potentially adds years to our rebuild.
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We have paid Stafford quite handsomely. We don’t “owe” him anything more than that. We need to get a good GM/HC in place to bring in better players and schemes around him quickly and then he needs to get his ring(s) here.
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If Stafford wants out of Detroit then he sure hasn’t said so to anybody. Did he actually say that to Orlovsky? As in seriously mean it or was it out of context, if he did say it. Or is this all conjecture, which is my guess. I do not believe Stafford will as for a trade.
That said, it might be more likely that Stafford will retire, probably when his contract is basically up, or perhaps as early as after next season. And who could blame the guy, after the beating he has taken for pretty much his entire career. I gotta wonder what the numbers are for QBs getting hit over the last 10 years; I’d bet there ain’t many that have been clobbered more than Stafford has, and I think it’s beginning to take it’s toll on his body. Here’s a guy that has more money than Oprah, right? Okay, not Oprah but more money than God, with a beautiful wife and 4 beautiful kids, and his team is about to go through another rebuild. Can he last long enough for this team to gel and get to be good enough to challenge the best teams for a trophy? If the best he’s gonna do is 9 or 10 wins and a 1st round loss in the playoffs, then is it worth the physical and maybe mental risk? I’m wondering if there’s a few Stafford concussions that nobody knows about.
Okay, so then consider a possible trade. Could happen, if I was Stafford I might do it if I thought my new team has the potential to be really good. And BTW not get my ass kicked every Sunday. Doesn’t look to me like the Lions are close to having that potential; so maybe if a decent offer comes along the new GM might take it. The Lions could spin it as a nice gesture to Stafford to give him a chance to win the big one. But it also says something about our chances to win the big one too, the Lions would be without a legit starting QB, right? And depending on a rookie coming out of college ain’t exactly a sure thing, so many of them don’t make it for one reason or another.
So, a trade could happen this offseason, but my guess is not. Unless he decide to retire, which is possible, he’s gonna be under center for the Lions next year IMHO. Don’t scoff, who here foresaw Barry walking away like he did? If you already got the money and see no chance for a ring, then WTF?
Stafford doesn’t strike me as someone who will ask for a trade. However I do think that the 49ers, Colts, Patriots or Washington will probably be making some calls to the organization to see what the front office’s willingness to trade will be.
One other thing to remember is the coaching search. One of the things that makes the Lions job more attractive than say the Jets or Jaguars job is the fact that we have a top 10 QB in place. Remove that from the equation and coaches may rather be in Ny/Nj or Florida.
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I agree we don’t “owe” him a trade. However prior to being with the Lions all he did was win. He may want a taste of winning before he hangs up his cleats (and although I don’t think he’ll demand a trade) and this team isn’t going to win next year or the year after with or without him.
Still… he’s a top 10 QB in the NFL and you don’t generally trade those.
I’m not willing to go there. Look at our offensive roster. We aren’t that far away on offense. We’ve got work to do at WR and maybe another OG. Defense is where we are going to have to make wholesale changes, but you can do a lot in one offseason. Especially if you bring in coaches with schemes that are not complete dog shit. I’m not saying we will or won’t be able to fix our defense in one or two years, but it is definitely possible. TBD.
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