Report: Matthew Stafford was willing to go anywhere but New England

[Roary]

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Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson presumably has a short list of teams to which he’d like to be traded. As it turns out, eventually-to-be former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford had a short list of teams to which he wouldn’t like to be traded. A very short list.

Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston reports that Stafford was willing to go anywhere but New England.

No specific reason was provided. Obviously, the Patriots don’t have an abundance of weapons. Also, the shadow of #Tommy is long and, if the Bucs win the Super Bowl in seven days, it will be even longer.

Then there’s the Matt Patricia factor. Beyond the fact that the former Lions coach has returned to the New England coaching staff, Stafford surely suspects that he’d get more of what he got from Patricia during Patricia’s time with the team.

Although the full story has yet to be told, it should surprise no one that Stafford and Patricia have different styles. After the Lions lost to the Texans on Thanksgiving and Patricia’s job security became a major talking point, Stafford had a chance to speak out in favor of his coach. Instead, Stafford said this: “It’s not my decision. That’s for somebody else. If you want to ask me about the game, you ask me about the game.”

When it comes to picking a new team, it partially was Stafford’s decision. And his decision was to accept a trade anywhere but New England.