Insider confirms Lions' interest in retaining QB Jared Goff

Lions QB Jared Goff is under contract through 2024, but the team remains interested in a long-term arrangement. Per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link), the Lions and Goff are expected to come together this offseason to discuss an extension that will make Goff one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league.

Goff was selected by the Rams with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2016 draft, and he struggled in his rookie season under then-HC Jeff Fisher. Of course, Sean McVay‘s hiring in 2017 proved to be one of the best decisions in team history, and for a time, McVay and Goff enjoyed a productive partnership.

Over the 2017-18 campaigns, Goff posted a 24-7 record while throwing for 60 touchdowns against just 19 interceptions. He earned Pro Bowl acclaim in both of those years and guided the Rams to a Super Bowl appearance at the end of the 2018 season, which prompted Los Angeles to hand him a four-year, $134M extension a few months later.

Unfortunately, Goff regressed over the next two seasons, and after the Rams were bounced from the playoffs after the 2020 season, McVay was notably non-committal on Goff’s future with the club. Shortly thereafter, the Rams traded Goff to the Lions in a blockbuster deal that brought Matthew Stafford to LA and sent significant draft capital to the rebuilding Detroit outfit.

At the time of the trade, Goff’s contract looked like something of an albatross, and many believed that Lions GM Brad Holmes agreed to assume the deal merely to squeeze an extra first-round draft choice out of the Rams. But subsequent reports made it clear that Holmes — who had just joined Detroit after spending the previous eight years in the Rams’ front office — truly believed that Goff could recapture his Pro Bowl form and was not viewed as a mere bridge option.

It appears that Holmes’ assessment was correct, as Goff posted solid numbers on an otherwise poor Lions club in 2021 and has taken his game to a higher level as the talent around him has improved. Over the past two seasons, Goff has guided the team to top-five finishes in both points per game and total offense, and two weeks ago, Detroit won its first playoff game since 1991. Of course, the Lions also won last week’s divisional round tilt with the Bucs and are one victory away from the first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.

In 2023, we heard rumblings that the Lions were targeting a Goff extension, though that was before the team experienced playoff success with him under center. Now, it appears there will be more urgency to that dialogue.

Sources tell Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports that there is a little doubt a deal will get done in the coming months, though Jones believes the average annual value on Goff’s next contract will be “somewhere in the 40s.” There are now 12 quarterbacks with AAVs of at least $40M, so while Jones indicates that Goff is not overly concerned with his ranking in the QB contract hierarchy, Rapoport’s report — to say nothing of Goff’s leverage and his importance to a formerly moribund franchise — suggest that the number could check in closer to $50M.