Jared Goff Rewarded by Lions for 'Restoring the Roar'

Jared Goff deserves every single penny of new contract.

Jared Goff / Eric Seals, USA TODAY NETWORK

Lions fans, you can breathe a sigh of relief: Jared Goff isn't going anywhere. 

Goff – arguably now the biggest star of the four major Detroit pro sports teams’ current athletes – inked a massive contract extension Monday to remain the Lions’ franchise quarterback for the foreseeable future.

Officially, the veteran signal-caller came to terms on a four-year, $212 million deal ($170M guaranteed), making him the highest-paid Lions player ever and the second-highest paid quarterback in average annual value in NFL history ($53 million per year). He trails only Joe Burrow's $55 million-a-year contract. 

Despite the staggering nature of the contract, Goff has earned every single penny of his handsome payday.

The contract – which was inevitable in the eyes of many – is a sign of the organization's high degree of trust in Goff and its serious level of commitment to winning now. 

There are no ifs, ands or buts about it: It’s Super Bowl-or–bust for Goff and the Lions headed into the 2024 campaign. It's a heck of a lot of pressure to place on a franchise that just won its first division crown in 30 years and its first postseason game in 32 years. 

However, head coach Dan Campbell and the front office, led by general manager Brad Holmes, believe this iteration of the Lions is well-equipped to handle the lofty expectations. And, a big reason why they think that way is due to Goff's calm, cool and collected presence under center. Campbell and Holmes hold the franchise passer in high esteem, and I don't blame them one bit. Goff has done nothing but earn their respect, especially over the last year and a half as he and the Lions have simultaneously enjoyed renaissances.

Goff, the 2016 No. 1 overall pick, was basically “left for dead” by Sean McVay and the L.A. Rams, and was thrown-in to the Matthew Stafford trade in early 2021.

There wasn't much hope for Goff resurrecting his career at the time, which appeared to be validated by his porous debut season in Detroit. And, to make matters worse, as Goff and the Lions experienced their struggles (and plenty of them) during a 3-13-1 campaign, Stafford and the Rams made a run to the Super Bowl. It culminated in Stafford's first championship as an NFL passer. 

The trade was nothing but lopsided in favor of the Rams at the time. However, since then, Goff and the Lions have become a match made in football heaven. The California native has experienced a career resurgence, and has keyed Detroit's epic turnaround. 

The Lions went from 1-6 at the halfway point in 2022 to a 9-8 team by season's end, and then followed that up with a 12-5 record and an NFC North title in 2023. And Goff was instrumental every step of the way in the franchise's return to relevance.

In fact, since Week 9 of the 2022 campaign, he's thrown for 47 touchdowns, as opposed to 13 interceptions, and 7,109 yards. Meanwhile, he's completed 66.81 percent of his passes.

He's become the proverbial “straw that stirs the drink” for Campbell's team, and has seemingly put Detroit in position to win on a weekly basis since that midway point in ‘22. 

A season ago, Goff's strong play got the Lions all the way to the NFC Championship Game, the first time the organization had reached that point in the playoffs since the 1991 season. It was a banner season for Detroit, and Goff's fingerprints were all over it. His popularity has subsequently skyrocketed among Lions supporters, and now you never quite know when (or where) a good old “Jared Goff!” chant is going to break out.

He’s undoubtedly the people's quarterback in Motown, and the right quarterback to lead the franchise moving forward. And yes, even at $53 million annually, Goff is deserving of the contract that's been handed to him by the Lions.