Jared Goff: 'There's no ill will' toward Rams after trade

Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay mentally moved on from starting quarterback Jared Goff in January. They then physically did so at the start of the new NFL year on Wednesday when the club officially traded Goff and draft assets to the Detroit Lions for signal-caller Matthew Stafford. 

Goff spoke with media members on Friday and had positive things to say about his former employer.

"I’m so thankful for my time there," Goff explained, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "I have so many great memories, made so many great friends, have so many great former teammates from there. And there’s so much I learned there. There’s no ill will. I want to move forward with my life and my career, and this is the next chapter — it starts today. But I had so many great times there and I’m thankful for everything that I went on there.

"We had a lot of success there. I was able to have a lot of success there. Like I mentioned, there were a lot of good times there. Unfortunately, the way it ended is never the way you envision it. But that’s the way it goes. The only constant is change in this league and it’s no different every offseason. It so happens this offseason, this is part of my change. I’m excited about it."

With that said, Goff also read the writing on the wall and is using this rejection as motivation to silence doubters. 

"I think at first, absolutely. I think it builds that chip on your shoulder a little bit. I won’t lie about that," Goff admitted. "There is that little extra motivation and chip that you do feel. And, again, I am so thankful for all my time there. But yeah, you do feel that. You do feel little of, ‘OK, let’s see what we can do now.'"

Multiple reputable mock drafts have the Lions selecting a weapon for Goff in the first round of next month's player-selection process, so he may find himself in a position to succeed at his second NFL home directly out of the gates.