5 teams who could trade for Lions QB Matthew Stafford in the offseason

Whether he is able to return from an ankle injury this season or not, Jimmy Garoppolo seems to be approaching the end of his run with the 49ers. They can move away from him very easily in the offseason, via release or trade, and the options would then be pretty wide open. Quarterbacks with ties to head coach Kyle Shanahan (Kirk Cousins? Matt Ryan?) are the most interesting to speculate about.

The 49ers currently sit with $23.26 million in cap space for next year. Parting with Garoppolo would clear $24.1 million in cap space, with just $2.8 million in dead money left behind. Stafford has a $33 million cap hit for 2021, with a $10 million roster bonus due on March 17 the Lions could conceivably pay before dealing him.

Stafford is an interesting fit with an offensive mind like Shanahan and the unique set of weapons the 49ers have. San Francisco’s offense under Shanahan is rooted in the run game, which would be a change of pace for Stafford. On the other end, Shanahan could open things up with a quarterback he doesn’t have to cover the deficiencies of by taking the air out of the ball (i.e. Ryan’s best years under Shanahan in Atlanta).