The Detroit Lions’ monumental trade of Matthew Stafford became official on Thursday morning as both he and Jared Goff made their first appearances at their new team’s facilities. With the trade officially hitting the books, new details on the compensation were made public.
Per the NFL transaction wire, the Lions are getting the Rams’ 2022 first-round pick, their 2023 first-round pick, a 2021 third-round pick, and Goff in return for Stafford. That much we already knew. However, the transaction wire gave one important detail that was previously unknown: that third-round pick the Lions will be getting for this year’s draft is a compensatory selection.
Many had assumed the Lions were getting the Rams’ original third-round pick—Pick 88—in return, likely because the compensatory picks had yet to be announced when the trade was agreed upon. However, since then, it’s been revealed that the Rams will have two compensatory picks: Pick 101 and Pick 103.
At this point, it isn’t clear which of the two the Lions will be getting, but overall, it’s a downgrade of either 13 or 15 spots from what was originally believed. It’s a small price to pay, especially considering the Rams did the Lions a favor by eating Goff’s $2.5 million roster bonus due on Thursday, but it’s not an insignificant one.
Perhaps one of the most interesting things about this development is how the Rams got those compensatory picks. Due to a new rule that hopes to incentivize more minority coaches and front office executives, if a team loses a minority coach or executive to a head coaching or general manager job, they will receive a third-round compensatory pick for two consecutive years. So it’s entirely possible the Lions will receive one of the compensatory picks the Rams got because they hired Brad Holmes.
