Advertisement
Australia markets open in 8 hours 14 minutes

  • ALL ORDS

    7,937.90
    +35.90 (+0.45%)
     

  • AUD/USD

    0.6480
    +0.0028 (+0.44%)
     

  • ASX 200

    7,683.50
    +34.30 (+0.45%)
     

  • OIL

    82.55
    +0.65 (+0.79%)
     

  • GOLD

    2,335.70
    -10.70 (-0.46%)
     

  • Bitcoin AUD

    102,588.11
    +723.60 (+0.71%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,436.81
    +22.05 (+1.56%)
     

Lions' trade for Rams DT Michael Brockers creates potentially awkward Jared Goff reunion

Cassandra Negley
·WNBA and women's college basketball reporter
·3-min read

Talk about awkward.

Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers is reportedly on his way to the Detroit Lions after the sides finalized a trade Wednesday. That's all well and good in itself, except there's another trade between the Rams and Lions going through when the NFL league year begins at 4 p.m. ET. The Rams are also sending quarterback Jared Goff to Detroit in exchange for quarterback Matthew Stafford.

And the reunion of teammates isn't going to be super pleasant after what Brockers said earlier this month.

What Brockers said about Stafford, Goff trade

The Rams made a deal to get Stafford at the end of January. The Lions received Goff and two future first-round draft picks. It seemed like a lot for a quarterback entering his 13th season and with no deep playoff experience.

ADVERTISEMENT

Brockers made his feelings clear to TMZ on gaining a new QB.

“Is it a level up? In my heart, deeply, just understanding what he brings, it’s a level up,” Brockers said. “It’s a level up.”

He also stopped short of calling a Rams Super Bowl spot "a lock," but said with Stafford and the Rams' success in 2020, "there's no wonder why we can't [win it all]."

Brockers, Goff back together Detroit

Well now it seems Brockers is leveling back down, at least in the context of his own words about the quarterbacks.

Brockers, 30, was the Rams' 14th overall pick in the 2012 draft and was their longest-tenured defensive player before the trade. The sides reportedly couldn't come to an agreement on restructuring his contract. The Rams receive a 2023 seventh-round draft pick in the deal.

Los Angeles began the week about about $33 million over the salary cap, which dropped 8 percent from last season because of impacts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rams had to make room before the new league year opened and were expected to rework big contracts. Brockers' deal for 2021 was a salary-cap hit of $9.8 million.

It is the second consecutive season the Rams have appeared to let go of Brockers. He had agreed to terms with the Baltimore Ravens a year ago on a free agent contract, but it fell through over concerns about an ankle injury he suffered at the end of 2019. The Rams re-signed him to a three-year, $14 million guaranteed deal.

Twitter still had all the jokes

Brockers never said anything directly rude about Goff, and even followed it up a few days later on the NFL Network's "Good Morning Football" by saying Goff “knows how to get it done when the time is needed.”

“The Lions should be very happy with what they have,” he said. “They got a guy with a lot of experience and knows how to get to the big game.”

Even so, it's fun to think about and Twitter brought it all.

More from Yahoo Sports: