On Saturday night, news broke that the Detroit Lions had agreed in principle to trade Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams for quarterback Jared Goff, a third-round pick in 2021, and a first-round pick in 2022 and 2023.
But as you have probably heard by now, the trade cannot officially take place until the new league year begins on March 17.
Because of this, both the Lions and Rams could get buyer’s remorse and decide to nix the deal any time prior to that date.
That being said, it would be a pretty shady move for either team to back out without having a good reason.
But, let’s say the Lions or Rams decide they don’t want the trade to go down, they could easily get out by not passing Goff or Stafford when they are given their physical.
Both Goff (thumb) and Stafford (everything) dealt with injuries in 2020 and it is conceivable that they would not be able to pass a physical with their new team. Or, if the Rams or Lions no longer want to make the deal, they could simply fail Goff or Stafford on their physical, even if they really passed it.
I would be shocked if the trade does not go through as agreed upon, but since people have mentioned this, I figured I would toss out the possibility.
