NFL teams begin to contact Detroit Lions about possible Matthew Stafford trade

NFL teams have begun contacting the Detroit Lions to check what it would take to trade for quarterback Matthew Stafford, sources revealed to ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday.

This had been the expectation after Saturday when the Lions and Stafford mutually consented to a partition between the long-lasting Detroit quarterback and the only franchise for which he’s consistently played. A source acquainted with the circumstance said Saturday night that the Lions would be searching for “fair market value” for Stafford, who is the franchise leader in each significant passing category.

Stafford will leave Detroit, at whatever point he is traded, having thrown for 45,109 yards, 282 touchdowns, and 144 interceptions. The Lions made three playoff appearances Stafford, losing in the wild-card round each of the three times.

He was the team’s pick at No. 1 overall in 2009 – the first pick of then-general manager Martin Mayhew. Mayhew is presently the general manager in Washington, one of numerous NFL teams needing a quarterback this offseason.

While Stafford has not spoken publicly since news broke about his pending departure, his wife, Kelly, posted on Instagram on Monday, expressing gratitude toward Detroit’s fans and the actual city for accepting her and her family and how it has affected them over the past 12 years.

“Random tears come very often when I think about not being here,” Kelly Stafford wrote. “This place supported me during the toughest time of my life and during the happiest times and I want to thank y’all in the right way.

“Whenever I figure out what the future holds, you’ll be hearing from me again with a thank you that hopefully shows how much gratitude and love I have for this place.. but until then we are going to enjoy our time left in Michigan to the fullest because there really is no other place like it.”

Fans reacted to the declaration of a probably trade by giving $9 – Stafford’s jersey number – to the Acoustic Neuroma Association, which is a charity essential to the Staffords after Kelly managed an acoustic neuroma in 2019.

As of Tuesday evening, Melissa Baumbick, the manager of outreach and advancement for the ANA, said they’ve gotten 1,575 donations approaching nearly $22,000 to pay tribute to the Staffords.

“This kind of awareness is huge for us. It really is huge for us,” Baumbick told ESPN on Monday. “So just being able to get the word out there so that doctors are aware of it and can diagnose it correctly and we don’t have misdiagnoses and also so patients are aware of it and even so far as Kelly has talked about sort of the things that she’s dealt with following her surgery because there are sometimes things that become chronic conditions and go on following surgery that become a sort of life-changing issues for people moving forward.

“Most patients lose some hearing; some patients lose all hearing in one ear. So that becomes something that they have to deal with moving forward, so having that sort of awareness is huge.”

The Staffords have additionally been making preparations to leave. They put their rural Detroit mansion on the market – listing cost $6.5 million – this week. They initially put the house on the market in May, yet pulled it off the market when the season began in September.