It’s becoming apparent that the Los Angeles Rams are not sold on quarterback Jared Goff. After yet another sorely disappointing season for the former No. 1 overall pick, reports surfaced of a rift between the Super Bowl signal caller and head coach Sean McVay.
We’re now hearing directly from Rams general manager Les Snead about the status of Jared Goff moving forward. To say that the front office head didn’t give his quarterback a ringing endorsement would be an understatement.
“Not going to get into specifics on those. That’s the beautiful mystery of the future,” Snead said when asked about whether the quarterback will be on the Rams’ roster in 2021, via Greg Beacham of the Associated Press. “Jared Goff is a Ram at this moment. It’s way too early to speculate.”
These are some rather remarkable words from a general manager who inked Goff to a four-year, $134 million extension back in September of 2019. With that said, there’s no reason to believe the Rams should be sold on Goff moving forward. He has done nothing to prove his worth since leading Los Angeles to a Super Bowl appearance following the 2018 season.
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Jared Goff stats
- 2018: 64.9% completion, 4,638 yards, 32 touchdowns, 12 interceptions (101.1 rating)
- 2019: 62.9% completion, 4,638 yards, 22 touchdowns, 16 interceptions (86.5 rating)
- 2020: 67.0% completion, 3,952 yards, 20 touchdowns, 13 interceptions (90.0 rating)
As you can see, Goff’s numbers have been on a downward trajectory in each of the past two seasons. In fact, the 26-year-old quarterback has committed 38 turnovers in his past 31 regular-season starts. That’s in no way going to cut it.
Sure Los Angeles earned a playoff appearance with a 10-6 record this past season. However, that had much more to do with a defense that ranked No. 1 overall in the NFL under recently departed coordinator Brandon Staley. Simply put, Goff has not lived up to his end of the bargain.
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The Jared Goff contract complicates things further
Set to count $34.63 million against the cap in 2021, it’s going to be hard for the Rams to find a trade partner for Goff. That’s magnified by the plethora of better quarterbacks currently on the NFL trade block. Trading Goff prior to June 1 would also cost the Rams an absurd $65.53 million dead cap hit. That’s not happening.
The one option here would be for the Rams to trade Jared Goff after June 1. They could then break up that dead cap hit over the next couple years before his guaranteed cash is extinguished. Boasting one of the worst cap situations in the NFL, that would save Los Angeles $28.15 million in 2021. It’s something the team will have to think long and hard about.
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Is a Jared Goff trade possible?
Even then, there’s other complications here. Will the Rams be able to find an upgrade over Goff given their less-than-stellar cap situation? Will any other team be willing to take on the struggling quarterback and his contract?
One potential avenue would be to trade the farm for Deshaun Watson, who comes in a lot cheaper than Goff in 2021. That’s also complicated by the fact that Los Angeles is without its first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft stemming from the Jalen Ramsey trade.
Either way, this is going to be a major storyline in Southern California. Simply put, the Los Angeles Rams are no longer sold on Jared Goff as their quarterback of the future.