Detroit Lions: 5 trade scenarios for Matthew Stafford

The Detroit Lions shocked the sporting world over the weekend with reports revealing that the organization intends to shop their 12-year veteran quarterback, Matthew Stafford, essentially placing him on the trade block. And the Lions figure to have plenty of suitors as franchise quarterbacks are a rare commodity in the NFL.

But in order to make the move, the Lions will seek fair-market value in exchange. And that’s where the hang-up might be. What is the value of a soon-to-be 33-year old franchise passer coming off back-to-back injury-plagued seasons?

Value is really in the eye of the beholder. But we anticipate a bidding war between several interested parties that will inflate said value. Therefore, we wanted to come up with five different trade scenarios we could see happening with five different NFL teams. And we’ll start with …

Trade Scenario #5

Analysis: Washington is a clear candidate with a major need under center. And while they did win their division last season, the NFC East was the worst division in the NFL. And Washington limped over the finish line for the crown with a 7-9 record.

Of all the destinations, this might be the most unattractive to Stafford himself. While Washington has a solid head coach now in Ron Riveria, it was only his first year with the organization last year. And while the team may have the most dominant defensive line in the NFL, they are still in need of an injection of talent nearly everywhere else on their roster.

Washington would likely have to overpay to acquire Stafford, which would bode well for Detroit. But for Stafford, it would leave him on another sub .500 team with a ton of needs and, suddenly, a lot less draft capital to address them.