Les Snead declines to talk about Jared Goff

[Roary]

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The trade that will send Jared Goff from the Rams to the Lions for Matthew Stafford isn’t official yet, and it won’t be for another week. Thus, the Rams technically can’t talk about Stafford, since he’s currently under contract with another team.

They can, however, say whatever they want about Goff. The Rams seem to be using the rule that prevents them from talking about Stafford as a way to avoid talking about Goff.

In a Wednesday session with reporters, G.M. Les Snead avoided all questions about Goff, citing the rules regarding trades and explaining, “I won’t be able to really elaborate.” And while Snead can’t talk about a trade that hasn’t officially happened yet, he can say whatever he wants about a player who currently is under contract with the Rams.

“I’m a relatively open person,” Snead said when asked about his assessment of Goff. “There are some things, obviously, we’re not going to ever discuss in public, you’re going to keep within the walls, but it’s hard to address this while tippy-toeing around it and things like that. I mean, I think that’s a better question and I certainly don’t mind sitting down at that point in time and discussing it because what we’re talking about is a big move and definitely deserves to be talked about at the right time. . . . I do think it would be nice to be able to talk about it just because the move was agreed upon, it seems like forever ago, and we still can’t talk about it. But I’m going to respect those rules and hopefully by respecting them, we might have a chance of evolving or being a part of the evolution of some of these rules, if this is the way cycle of roster movement is going to go.”

The rule preventing discussion regarding the trade is indeed a dumb one. But it’s still a rule. It nevertheless seems like it’s a stretch to think the Rams can’t say why they have decided to move on from Goff. They clearly have, and there’s no rule they’d violate by explaining why he won’t be on the team in 2021, regardless of how that happens.

It will be interesting to see how candid Snead or coach Sean McVay will be next Wednesday, or whenever they have a press conference to discuss the trade that will give them Matthew Stafford. Of course, at that point they may just say, “This day is about Matthew and looking forward. We’d rather not focus on the rear-view mirror.”