5 reasons the Detroit Lions should draft Tua Tagovailoa

1. Matthew Stafford Will Be Easier To Move Going Forward

Stafford has been the subject of some trade rumors this offseason, whether he has asked for it or general manager Bob Quinn is entertaining the idea. But that move is unpalatable, with three years left on Stafford’s contract and cap hits of $21.3, $33 and $26 million respectively. If they were to trade him right now, they would take on $32 million in dead money for this year.

It’s not necessarily going to be easy, but trading Stafford will get easier down the road. In 2021, trading him would bring a $19 million dead money hit and $14 million in cleared cap space. In 2022, those numbers become $6 million in dead money and $20 million in cleared cap space.

If the Lions are looking at a reset/rebuild in 2021, with Quinn as general manager and Patricia as head coach or not, trading Stafford will be an option. There may even be multiple teams interested in him, with one less year left on his contract and a pretty easy out after the first of the two remaining years.

For the Lions to even consider trading Stafford next offseason, they will have to have a viable replacement in place. Assuming he is healthy and checks out under eventual, typical scrutiny via a physical from team doctors, Tagovailoa would easily be that replacement. A possible new head coach and/or general manager would definitely be fine with having that option.