After some uncertainty over the past year, it’s now clear that Matthew Stafford is a part of Lions G.M. Bob Quinn’s long-term plans for the team.
During an interview on Pro Football Talk Live, Quinn spoke fondly of Stafford and said the team was in the early stages of the negotiation process with the 29-year-old signal caller.
“These things take time. These things don’t usually happen early in April or May, but we’re working towards that,” Quinn told PFT.
Stafford is in the final year of his deal, scheduled to make $16.5 million in 2017. While it would have been surprising for Stafford to not be a part of the team’s long-term plans, Quinn really hadn’t given the ringing endorsement of Stafford that fans had anticipated when he took over before last season.
Clearly, Quinn has come around, as he went on to shower Stafford with praise during the PFT interview.
“I think he’s a very good quarterback that has all the leadership and off the field traits that we look for in the quarterback position, and his on-field ability I think is well-documented,” Quinn said, before going on to say it’s his job to build around Stafford.
“We need to do a better job, and I need to do a better job of putting more pieces around him so we have a better team around him so he doesn’t have to carry the entire load,” he concluded.
Stafford may not have a playoff win or a winning record, but he led fourth-quarter comebacks in eight of the Lions’ nine wins in 2016. He must improve his consistency and accuracy, but his numbers have been trending up over the past few seasons.
Since 2015, Stafford has thrown 56 touchdowns to 23 interceptions, for a quarterback rating of 95.2 — nearly ten points higher than his career rating of 86.8. He also rushed for a career-high 207 yards in 2016, showing the increased athleticism that Quinn alluded to.
Re-signing Stafford will cost a lot. In fact, he will likely become the highest-paid quarterback in the league, topping Andrew Luck. That’s the price of having a top-tier quarterback in today’s NFL.
Last season, the Houston Texans paid $72 million to acquire inexperienced Brock Osweiler. Just a season later, the Texans traded AWAY a 2nd-round pick to get rid of Osweiler and his big contract. This illustrates just how hard it is to find the right guy at that position.
For the Lions and Bob Quinn, it appears Stafford has earned the right to be Detroit’s quarterback for years to come. The deal may take a few months to get done, but No. 9 isn’t going anywhere.
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