I think whatever the QB said was coming from a place of trying to save face. I know what Goff said through his mouthpiece and I don't see his words as credible.
McVay said he had issues with "real-time communications." He didn't admit to communication issues across a broad spectrum so your attempt to use that limited and specific admission in a broad and general sense falls flat.
We know for a fact that they had a 4 hour conversation where tough things were said on both sides towards the end of the regular season. I don't believe there was much guessing going on on either one's part. IMO, either party saying they were surprised by the state of things is all PR related.
In terms of the timeline, I'm 100% certain that teams could know that Stafford was available prior to any announcement. As I noted, Holmes was hired on 1/14/21 and had interviews prior to that date. The firm decision to trade Stafford and Holmes' strategy on how he would go about obtaining the highest price were part of those interviews per Holmes. Anyway, per Stafford, they agreed to trade him in the meeting when he met with them right after the season.
Do I think that Snead had conversations with Holmes prior to 1/23/21 or 1/17/21 when McVay made his first comments? Yes, yes I do!
Do I think that teams heard about Stafford's availability on 1/23/21 at the same time when fans heard about it? No, no I don't! In fact I think the suggestion is silly.
Do I think that the Rams had contact with Stafford? I'm sure they didn't but that doesn't preclude contact with the team prior to us fans knowing about it.
