Jared Goff reflects on Lions' struggles, recent successes

Before it was learned on Monday that Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff was signing a massive contract extension, he reflected on all that occurred across his first three seasons with the organization. 

"It’s been a lot of fun for me to be a part of these last three years of building this thing from the ground up, and being able to win a division title and a couple of home playoff games," Goff recently told Jenna Lemoncelli of the New York Post. "But now we want a little bit more than that, and hope we can be the last team standing there at the end of the year." 

Goff was set to reach free agency after the 2024 season before he landed a four-year extension that includes $170M guaranteed and could be worth up to $212M. The 29-year-old earned that payday after he guided the Lions to their first playoff victory since January 1992 and, ultimately, to this year's NFC Championship Game. 

Goff hasn't been shy about having a "chip" on his shoulder after being traded to Detroit by the Los Angeles Rams after the 2020 season. The 2021 Lions went 3-13-1, and Detroit then began the 2022 season at 1-6 before the club went 8-2 across its final 10 games of that campaign. 

"I think coming here and having to go through some lumps, you have to figure things out a little bit and it forces you to learn a lot about yourself," Goff said about certain low points with the Lions. "You have to find out what you’re made of and it forces you to grow. It forces you to be better in all aspects of life — and it certainly did here [in Detroit]. And I love the fans. I love how much they care, how passionate they are." 

According to Pro-Football-Reference, Goff finished the 2023 regular season ranked second in the NFL with 4,575 passing yards and fourth with 30 touchdowns through the air. As of Tuesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Lions second among the betting favorites at +550 odds to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LIX.

"Our standards and expectations internally will rise and obviously, externally, they have outside expectations and will rise as well with what we were able to do last year," Goff told Lemoncelli. "But internally, we’re gonna need to take it up a notch and know that we’re gonna need more from everybody and a lot of hard work to come."