While it’s unclear how Bill Belichick currently feels about Matthew Stafford, the Patriots head coach was awfully high on the Lions quarterback a couple years ago.
As you likely have heard, Detroit reportedly is ready to trade its franchise quarterback, who was taken with the first overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. Unsurprisingly, talk of the 32-year-old landing with quarterback-needy New England has ensued.
With that in mind, let’s revisit comments Belichick made about Stafford before the Patriots faced the Lions in September of 2018.
“He does an excellent job of seeing down the field in all situations,” Belichick said at the time. “No matter how much pressure he’s under, he seems to find guys down there. Sometimes it appears that they’re covered, but he can put the ball where (Marvin) Jones in particular, but also (Kenny) Golladay, can go up and make plays on the ball.
“He’s very accurate and he’s got a strong arm. He can stand in there and make those throws, with or without a rush, in or out of the pocket, stationary or on the run. He’s extremely dangerous – one of the very best in the league for sure.”
Of course, it’s common for Belichick to praise an opposing quarterback before his team faces them. But his remarks on Stafford seemingly were more sincere.
As for whether there is a real chance of the Patriots trading for Stafford, your guess is as good as ours. One potential looming factor is Matt Patricia, who coached Stafford for three seasons and recently re-joined New England’s coaching staff.
