When the Detroit Lions traded Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Goff and a trio of draft picks, most believed Goff was only being brought in to be a temporary solution until the Lions could find their quarterback of the future.
But if you have listened to anything GM Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell has been saying during the offseason, they both seem to believe that Goff could be the solution if he is surrounded with the right talent.
Earlier this month, Holmes spoke to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, and he revealed what he told Goff late in the 2021 season.
“We were talking, I said, ‘Just be patient. Help is coming,’” Holmes told the Free Press earlier this month. “I wanted him to know that. I wanted him to know, I’m going to put some weapons around you now.”
Then, during the offseason, Holmes did add some talent for Goff, including WR Jameson Williams, who the Lions selected with the No. 12 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
“He was like, ‘Oh, man, Jameson!’” Holmes recalled. “Every single time we made an acquisition, he was texting me like, ‘Let’s (bleeping) go!’”
Is 2022 a make-or-break season for Jared Goff?
When asked if 2022 is a make-or-break season for Jared Goff, Brad Holmes said he does not like to use that term.
“I hate to use that term, make or break,” Holmes said, parroting a reporter’s question. “But I think it’s pretty evident that he is the starting quarterback and a lot relies and hinges on that position for team success. And so we put a lot around him, we put a lot of trust in him, we put a lot of support in him, but I just want him to go out there and play free and play with the confidence that he’s been playing with so far this camp.”
Holmes, who was previously with the Los Angeles Rams, says Goff has been better during this offseason than he ever was with the Rams.
“People see just that contrast, ‘Man, he didn’t look like this last year,’” Holmes said. “But me and (assistant GM) Ray (Agnew, another ex-Rams executive), we’ve seen him look like this before. Now, I will say this: This is the best that I’ve seen him look. I even go back to ’17 and ’18, like those two years where he was on fire and I would say just he’s looked better.”
Holmes is clearly confident in Goff as Week 1 is upon us. Are you?
