in no particular order...
In AD and Ramsey the Rams have the best two players in the league playing the two most important positions on defense. There is a limited window that this will be true. To win a championship an upgrade at QB was required. There were very limited options on how to upgrade during this window.
If not Stafford, then who? As much as I like Watson, look at his contract. I don't think he was ever a possibility for the Rams regardless of what they were willing to give up. The could sign Prescott, but what would he cost and is he really that good?
Stafford is a MAJOR upgrade over Goff in almost every way. McVay could not run the offense he wanted to run due to Goff's limitations. That won't be the case with Stafford. Did the league figure out how to limit Goff or McVay? We'll find out in 8 months.
Part of the high price of the trade was for Detroit to take Goff+Contract. Honestly, I'm not sure the Rams could have given away Goff+Contract. There would always need to be something extra. There's no way to do the math, but I would bet that 1st rounder in 2023 is just for taking the contract.
Two first round picks is a lot. But they *should* be late round picks. Plus it is the conventional wisdom that the trade value of a pick in a future year essentially drops the value by 1 round. So a 1st round pick next year has the value of a 2nd round pick this year. A team offering 1st round picks in 2021 and 2022 is offering quite a bit more than 1st round picks in 2022 and 2023.
Hindsight is 20/20 but giving Goff that contract was a huge mistake. Was it the right decision at the time? Well that was debated and who knows where would be now had they not. The Rams had just gone to the SB with Goff and he wasn't likely to get any cheaper to sign if they waited an extra year. QBs cost what they cost and teams need to make tough decisions.
I don't like that the Rams gave Goff what turned out to be a bad contract, Gurley too. But I do like that they are willing to move on from their mistakes. This is actually really important in life and business, IMHO.
Getting out of Goff's contract gives the Rams some cap flexibility that may allow them to keep a player or two who we thought we goners. Look for a couple of contract renegotiations that will provide some cap relief for 2021.
Total speculation on my part... I would not be surprised to learn that part of the problem with McVay and Goff is that Goff was not willing to put in the work. Nobody has hinted at this, but it makes total sense from an on-field performance aspect but also from a player-coach relationship aspect. A player signs a monster contract and loses that drive. It happens all of the time in sports in cities with far fewer distractions than L.A.
Goff's future will be much like Sam Bradford's. Due to his contract, Detroit will keep him for 2 years and then cut him. Some desparate team with a lot of cap space will then give him a stupid contract and eventually he will be out of the league by 30.
