Matthew Stafford is done with the Detroit Lions. The Pro Bowl quarterback has formally requested a trade from the organization that made him the first-overall pick in 2009, having then entered the league as a record-setting arm from the University of Georgia. It’s been a tumultuous relationship since then, with there admittedly being some highs but not nearly enough to outweigh the lows of having made the playoffs only three times and never once progressing past the wild-card round.
The overall lack of success and the frustration that stems from it is something legendary former running back Barry Sanders knows all too well, so news of Stafford’s looming divorce from the Lions doesn’t come as a surprise to him.
“It sounds like both parties kind of were at that point,” the Hall of Famer said, via NFL.com.
That “point” is where Sanders once found himself 21 years ago, when he upheaved the football world with the announcement he’d be retiring at the age of 30, as opposed to continuing to beat his head against the wall in Detroit. Sanders, who has routinely been labeled the greatest halfback in history (even all-time NFL rushing leader Emmitt Smith takes this stance), was hot off of a 1998 season that saw him rack up 1,780 yards from scrimmage and only one year removed from a career-best year wherein he delivered an utterly mind-blowing 2,358 yards from scrimmage and 14 touchdowns — career highs in both categories that garnered him honors as league MVP that season.
The Lions went a combined 14-18 in those two seasons, and were 78-82 during Sanders’ illustrious 10-year career.
To this day, the Lions have never been able to fill the void at RB left by the abrupt departure of the 10-time Pro Bowler, and while Stafford isn’t necessarily equal to the generational ability of the 10-time All-Pro, his value to the organization can’t be denied or easily dismissed. For Sanders’ part, it’s Stafford who made the Lions even remotely worth watching over the past 12 seasons — keeping in mind his tandem with legendary receiver Calvin “Megatron” Johnson was almost always must-see TV (Johnson himself having also opted to retire from the Lions in 2016).
“It will be tough to replace a guy like Matt Stafford, who I feel like in a lot of ways carried the franchise for the last decade,” said Sanders. “A guy who showed up every day. You felt like you always had a chance with Matt. Maybe because of the new regime coming in and just seeing things different, sometimes things like this just happen.”
With the firing of Matt Patricia and the hiring of Dan Campbell, the Lions are moving on to their third head coach in five years, not counting the time Darrell Bevell spent as interim following the ousting of Patricia in 2020. That’s a ton of turnover at the most important position on the sideline outside of quarterback, and Stafford has no interest in hitting the reset button yet again and buying into the possibility that this time the Lions finally got it right. Trade offers are already pouring in for Stafford and, once a deal is reached, he’ll leave Detroit not to join the ranks of the retired — but having thrown for 45,109 yards and 282 touchdowns to 144 interceptions and looking for a place where he hopes his abilities will become more than simply a nice statistical resumé.
He wants wins and, more importantly, ones of the postseason variety.
“I know Matt has a lot of good football left in him,” Sanders said. “I know as a Lions fan, I wish him well. It certainly will be very difficult to replace a guy like that, who put up the kind of numbers he has over his career.”
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