Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is extremely fond of Jared Goff, and he isn’t shy about it. On a recent appearance on ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III’s podcast “RG3 and The Ones,” St. Brown candidly answered a bevy of questions centering around the team’s culture, the Lions’ recent playoff trip, and the future of his quarterback with the team.
During their discussion, Griffin asked St. Brown whether Goff is worth north of $45 million per year in his upcoming deal with the franchise.
Reports state that Goff and the Lions are in the middle of ongoing contract negotiations, looking to hammer out a deal that will keep the three-time Pro Bowler with the franchise. St. Brown answered the question, happily co-signing Goff to earn a big deal.
“He’s accurate, he commands the offense, all the stuff you want in a quarterback. When you look at the Detroit Lions’ history, I mean, when’s the last time we went this deep in the playoffs, won this many games? When we first got there, like I said, we only won three games. So to see what he’s done with this Detroit football team from two years, three years ago to now; he’s winning games.
“I think winning is a big part of this sport, especially for a quarterback. So that’s what he’s doing. He’s winning games. And you go look at his stats too, they’re up there with some of the best quarterbacks in this league. He’s worth every dollar that he gets and I can’t wait for him to get paid and be a part of his future for a very long time.”
Goff played a key role in leading the Lions last season, guiding them to their first 12-win season since 1991. Additionally, he helped lead the franchise the first two Lions playoff victories ever at Ford Field, defeating his former team, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card and divisional rounds, respectively. However, their playoff journey concluded with a loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship.
Here are some additional comments and highlights from St. Brown’s interview with Griffin:
On offensive coordinator Ben Johnson returning to the team: “I’m super excited. I thought for sure he was going to be gone after this last year that we had. I was preparing for it, you know, bracing for it, and sure enough, he stayed. I know all the guys on offense are happy, shoot, even the guys on defense because we were putting up some points last year.”
On Jared Goff welcoming him to the team: “It was something like, ‘What’s up, brother? Welcome to the squad. Can’t wait to get to work. You’re going to be a big part of this offense moving forward.’ And I’ll never forget that text.”
“I think winning is a big part of this sport, especially for a quarterback. So that’s what he’s doing. He’s winning games. And you go look at his stats too, they’re up there with some of the best quarterbacks in this league. He’s worth every dollar that he gets and I can’t wait for him to get paid and be a part of his future for a very long time.”
On Jared Goff being labeled a game manager: “I don’t really trip off it too much. I don’t know how much he does that people call him that. But I mean you go look. A game manager made it to the NFC championship. A game manager did everything that he’s done in the last three years. So I think him being a game manager, he’s doing just fine.”
On the notion that receivers make too much money: “Nah. I definitely don’t agree with that. I’d be a fool to agree with that. We do a lot of things on the field. We actually got the Netflix thing coming out so I think that’s going to give a lot of people insight into what we actually do besides catching the ball on the football field, whether it’s in the run game, understanding different concepts.
“We’re definitely not overpaid. I think we bring great value to football teams. I think this league is becoming more of a passing game… throwing is so big in this game.”
On the Lions being “hunted” by other teams heading into next season: “We’re gonna have a target on our back. And I feel like everyone on the team understands that… I think we’ll be ready. Obviously it’s not going to be as easy (or) whatever it was for us last year, it’s going to be harder. We understand that and we’re up for the challenge.”
On beating the Rams in the playoffs and wanting to win for Jared Goff: “Everyone was hyping up the storyline between (Matthew) Stafford coming back to Detroit, Jared playing his old team against the Rams. But Jared was kinda trying to quiet down, tryna say, you know ‘it’s about the team, it’s not about me,’ which I respect.
“I understand as quarterback of a team, you don’t want to try to put all the focus and attention on yourself. It’s about the whole team. But for me as a player looking at him, I’m like ‘Nah, screw that! It is about the team, but it’s about you too.’ They traded you. They thought Stafford was better so they made that whole trade and sent you to Detroit with not much… I’m trying to win this game for him also. It’s for us and for him.”
