Jared Goff expresses desire to stay in Detroit for "a long time" amid Lions contract extension talk

Jared Goff, a former first-round pick by the Los Angeles Rams who was then traded away to the Detroit Lions, has found a new lease of life at the Motor City. He has established himself as the franchise quarterback and led the team to the NFC Championship last season, ending decades of underachievement.

While he is currently in the last year of his deal that will pay him $27.3 million, far below the market rate, the team certainly wants a deal done before the new season. And Jared Goff has endorsed the feeling as mutual, via the Detroit Free Press, saying,

"It’s been amazing, man. I love it here and would love to be here for a long time. It’s been really special like I mentioned playing in front of these fans and being able to provide a winning culture in the last year and a half or so. To see them experience that and be able to be a part of that has been fun but by no means are we satisfied or happy to be here or any of that. It’s about what’s next now."

Jared Goff still hurting from Detroit Lions' NFC Championship loss last season

Even though reaching the NFC Championship marked a huge leap forward for the Detroit Lions, Jared Goff felt they could have done better. He commented,

"It seems a lot of things just kind of didn’t go our way and I hate for that to sound like an excuse because we felt like we should have won that game anyways, but the second half they played well and we didn’t and that’s kind of the bottom line."

But showing his leadership, he refused to blame any particular play for the loss. Instead, Jared Goff said that they now have the incentive to go and do better than last season, which will mean aiming for the Super Bowl. He added,

"I wish I could go back and pinpoint some plays for you but there was a lot of them. There wasn’t just one. There wasn’t just one thing that went wrong, there was a handful of them and, yeah, it’s the way the ball bounced that day but gave us a ton of fire. It really did. And I know Dan’s talked about it, gave us a ton of fire and gives us something to look at and to draw on for next year."

With elite play on the field and a leader's mentality off it, it is no surprise that the Detroit Lions want to give Jared Goff a new contract.