Brock's Random Thoughts: Where Do You Send Matt Stafford To?

Reports have surfaced over the weekend that the Detroit Lions and 12-year veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford (pictured) have decided to part ways after the Super Bowl.

Kelly Stafford, Matthew's wife, posted on Instagram on Monday her thank you to the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan for the last 12 years of their lives.

Ok, so the Stafford's don't want to be in Detroit anymore. So, if you're the Detroit Lions, what do you do?

Well, Stafford has two years left on his contract. And he has a $10 million roster bonus due in March. His cap number for 2021 is $33 million if he stays with the Lions. If he is cut or traded, the cap hit is "only" $19 million, according to spotrac.com.

It makes no sense to cut him when you can get assets (draft picks, active NFL players) for him. So the next best thing to do is trade him to a contending team. The teams most prominently mentioned over the last few days are Indianapolis (who needs a QB with the retirement of Philip Rivers) and Houston (who has a disgruntled QB in DeShaun Watson).

Houston seems unlikely to me because Watson wants to go to a contending team, not the train wreck that is the Detroit Lions. To me, the Miami Dolphins look to be a possibility for Watson.

So that leaves the Indianapolis Colts. They have a very good defense, led by Darius Leonard. And they have a terrific coach for QB's in head coach Frank Reich (who wasn't a bad QB himself). They made the playoffs in 2020. This could be an ideal spot for Stafford.

It's too bad that the Lions couldn't win with Stafford. He is the best QB the team has had since Bobby Layne (his career stats back that up). But he also is to blame for their issues to a certain degree. He's had bad interceptions in his career and wasn't as good in 2020 as he was in previous seasons. And he just wasn't a Tom Brady-type in that he so good that he could cover up the rest of the team's weaknesses.

It seems time for both parties to move on from each other, for both of their benefits. I expect the Lions to make it happen before April's NFL Draft.