Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell wants to take a long-term approach to winning.
The Lions just traded away star quarterback Matthew Stafford in return for multiple draft picks and Jared Goff. It’s clear the team won’t be any good in 2021, but Campbell is okay with the situation if it pays off down the road. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Campbell told The Athletic the following about his outlook, according to ProFootballTalk:
Of course I want to win now. Who doesn’t want to win now? And we’ll do whatever we can to win now, but not to sacrifice what we can become long term. I look at things two years out — I don’t look at them right now. I want to know where we can be two years from now, even possibly three years from now…I think we do ourselves a disservice and we do the fan base a disservice if we say we’re going all in, right now. Because you know what happens? You’re going to stink in Year 2, Year 3. You’re not going to sustain.
I think we’re all on the same page that we have to do whatever is necessary in order to win consistently in the future.
We’re not going to be very good in 2021. We’re just not going to be good. That’s the reality of the situation. I could try to spin it for you, but it’d just be a lie.
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I think we have to stack up as many draft picks as we can get, draft Justin Fields this year, play Goff for a season if we have to and then surround Fields with the best pieces we can find.
Draft picks are gold in the NFL, and the Lions have multiple first rounders going forward. We have to be smart about the situation.
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As a Lions fan, you’re used to losing, but it might be a bit easier to swallow if I know there’s a legit vision for the future. That’d be a nice change of pace for the Lions!