Why Matthew Stafford is the perfect QB for the Washington Football Team
What would Matthew Stafford cost?
I think acquiring Stafford will cost a team their current first-round pick. And a bidding war will most likely make Stafford go for more. An additional high pick plus other mid and late-round picks may be necessary.
Detroit will want reasonable compensation to give them the needed assets to trade up for Stafford’s replacement if need be.
So what would be a reasonable offer to get Stafford? A baseline offer would be this year’s first straight-up for Stafford. However, Washington should be willing to offer their 2022 second and the San Francisco third this year on top of the first. Maybe more.
Washington Commanders
This may seem like a steep price to pay for what will be a 33-year old quarterback. The past trades of Donavan McNabb and Alex Smith still haunt this franchise. With that said, Stafford is much better than Smith and McNabb were at the time they were traded.
Stafford is fresh off a season where he threw for over 4,000 passing yards, 26 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. In 2019, he was on pace for 4,998 yards, 38 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions before an injury forced him to miss half the season. The team went 3-4-1 with him as the starter in 2019. Without him? 0-8.
Stafford is also very accurate. According to Next Gen Stats, at almost every area of the field, he is at least league-average in terms of accuracy, and on deep passes 20+ yards down the field along the sideline, he is well above league average.
As you can see, Matthew Stafford consistently produced with a poor franchise. He was in fact, as 2019 shows, what kept Detroit from having their record reflect the poor state of the franchise.
While Stafford does not have the playoff success of other elite quarterbacks, he still is well worth the compensation I laid out. And as we have seen before, quarterbacks can play into their late 30s and early 40s. Stafford still has really good years left in the tank.
Washington needs a ceiling raiser. Stafford is just that.