Jared Goff made it clear he had unfinished business in Detroit prior to the news of his blockbuster four-year contract extension earlier this week.
The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback and the Lions agreed to a new deal worth up to $212 million with $170 million guaranteed, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Monday.
Goff was set to be a free agent after the 2024 season.
“It’s been a lot of fun for me to be a part of these last three years of building this thing from the ground up, and being able to win a division title and a couple of home playoff games. But now we want a little bit more than that, and hope we can be the last team standing there at the end of the year,” the 29-year-old Goff told The Post last month, while discussing his partnership with Jared Jewelers.
Goff’s extension wasn’t a surprise to many after a strong 2023 campaign, in which he finished second in passing yards (4,575) and fourth in passing touchdowns (30).
The Lions went 12-5 and won the NFC North last season en route to the NFC Championship game, which they lost, 34-31, to the 49ers.
Prior to that, Goff led the Lions to first playoff win in 32 years, a 24-23 triumph over Matthew Stafford and the Rams in the wild-card game.
It was significant because Goff was traded to the Lions in January 2021 in a blockbuster exchange with the Rams for Stafford.
The Lions’ recent success has now raised the bar for the 2024 campaign.
“Our standards and expectations internally will rise and obviously, externally, they have outside expectations and will rise as well with what we were able to do last year,” Goff said. “But internally, we’re gonna need to take it up a notch and know that we’re gonna need more from everybody and a lot of hard work to come.
“We’re kind of at the at the early points of our off season program. So being able to start now and be around the guys and put in that time and that work toward hopefully having a great year.”
Goff is hoping for a second-year leap from tight end Sam Laporta and running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
“They had a great rookie year, both of those guys, and they always say your biggest jump is between your first and your second year. So if those two guys take a jump, we’ll be in pretty good shape,” Goff said. “It’s been fun to play with them both, and get the work with them.”
Goff explained how going through trials and tribulations in Detroit has forced him to grow. The Lions went 3-13-1 in his first season with the team in 2021.
“I can just speak for me personally, I think coming here and having to go through some lumps, you have to figure things out a little bit and it forces you to learn a lot about yourself,” Goff said. “You have to find out what you’re made of and it forces you to grow. It forces you to be better in all aspects of life — and it certainly did here [in Detroit]. And I love the fans. I love how much they care, how passionate they are.
“But you have to figure things out, and you have to learn how to manage hard times and I have a really great family and friends that have been around me through it all. But there’s times that were really hard, and you have to learn how to put yourself through that and come out the other side.”
Goff is engaged to Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Christen Harper, who appeared in the magazine’s 60th anniversary issue, which hit newsstands Tuesday.
The couple, who got engaged in June 2022, are set to tie the knot this summer in California.
