Rams HC Sean McVay reveals biggest regret of Matthew Stafford-Jared Goff trade

The Los Angeles Rams have been one of the most successful teams in the NFL this decade, and a large part of it was the leap of faith that they took before the 2021 season. After a number of successful years with Jared Goff at quarterback, Los Angeles traded the former No. 1 overall pick to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford.

The move worked out as well as possible on the field, as the Rams immediately won the Super Bowl the following season. Stafford has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL since the trade, even winning his first MVP last season.

However, the handling of the trade at times drew criticism toward the Rams, especially head coach Sean McVay. Goff was reportedly blindsided by the trade when it happened, as McVay had not let him know that the trade was on the table beforehand.

On Tuesday, McVay admitted he had some regrets from how the trade was handled on the Bussin’ With the Boys podcast.

Sean McVay wished he handled the Jared Goff trade differently pic.twitter.com/3JgisoCpc0

— Bussin' With The Boys (@BussinWTB) May 19, 2026

“I’m super sensitive to what an amateur I was with the Goff situation,” McVay said. “You wanna talk about lack of courage, lack of clarity, lack of ability to be able to look someone in the eye that you’ve had a lot of really cool experiences with and tell them ‘Hey, not easy to say, but we might explore an opportunity to acquire Matthew Stafford, and you’ll be a part of a trade there.’ … I didn’t handle that the right way.

“I’m not saying that we wouldn’t have made the decision, but the handling of it was exactly the antithesis of how I would hope to handle things moving forward.”

The deal is all water under the bridge now, as Goff has carved out a very successful stint with the Lions since being traded while the Rams have been one of the best teams in the NFL during Stafford’s time there. However, it is clear that this was a learning experience for a young coach like McVay, and that he won’t make the same mistakes in the future.

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