Maybe the San Francisco 49ers weren’t as “in” for quarterback Matthew Stafford as everyone assumed. At least, that’s what Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reports in his latest feature film.

Stafford wanted to go to California. After all, his family has a home in Newport Beach, about 40 miles south of SoFi Stadium. According to Breer, the Los Angeles Rams have always been his favorite destination, followed by the 49ers and Indianapolis Colts.

Saturday night Stafford made his wish come true. The Detroit Lions traded the quarterback to the Rams in exchange for two future first-round picks, a third round and Jared Goff. It seemed like a booty for the soon-to-be 33-year-old quarterback. But at least part of the offer was to get the Lions to take Goff’s salary. The result was a tough bid to beat. Los Angeles was clearly all-in on Stafford and eager to ship Goff and his huge contract out of Southern California.

How successful have the discussions between the 49ers and Lions been? Not far at all, it seems. Breer reports that the two sides had talks in Mobile, Alabama leading up to the Senior Bowl, but that was all they were – talks. Nothing was about to go official, despite what rumors and speculation on Twitter had everyone believe.

San Francisco planned to continue talks with Detroit after the weekend, but things then heated up on Saturday and the Lions looked to gauge the 49ers’ interest.

“I felt like the 12th pick was never going to be offered,” Breer wrote, which matches what we had been hearing all last week – that the 49ers were doing all they could to keep the 12th. choice out of the game. Of course, that always came with the caveat that things could change quickly.

When Detroit reached out, things had clearly escalated beyond what the 49ers were comfortable with, and the team had no problem leaving Stafford and moving forward with Jimmy Garoppolo.

Breer also broke down what other teams were offering the Lions for Stafford.

  • The Carolina Panthers offered the 8th overall pick in this year’s draft, plus a pick later.
  • The Washington football team offered the 19th overall pick with a third round pick.
  • The Colts never offered their first round, but discussed pick packs and a player.
  • The Denver Broncos have discussed a trade of picks with the Lions that would have amounted to a late first-round pick. It’s not going anywhere.
  • The New England Patriots discussed packing a second-round pick with a player, but were not on Stafford’s list of favorite destinations.
  • Discussions with the Chicago Bears and the New York Jets did not go far.