INDIANAPOLIS — Let’s speak concerning the strangest standoff I can bear in mind in fairly a while overlaying the league.
NFL Scouting Mix week is winding down from a media perspective, which is at all times an ironic transition. The reporters that flock right here to community and glean info usually start bailing out of city on Thursday and Friday, which is the precise time the on-field exercises which might be the rationale for the occasion — on paper, anyway — get began at Lucas Oil Stadium.
There will be time to fret concerning the incoming draft class later. As a result of within the convention rooms, espresso retailers and bars of Indianapolis, there’s curiosity in just one title: Matthew Stafford.
The veteran quarterback has turn out to be the most important determine within the NFL this week, because the Rams have granted him permission to talk with different groups about his market and what his providers is perhaps price. That, in flip, has set off a storm of hypothesis about who is perhaps keen to not simply pay Stafford a hefty new contract, however commerce critical capital to amass him from Los Angeles.
It is all very intriguing, as commerce hypothesis tends to be. It is also downright complicated, as a result of for the lifetime of me I am unable to determine the way it is smart.
Possibly I should not be stunned Stafford has turn out to be the primary and most impactful domino ready to fall on this 2025 offseason. He instructed me himself throughout Tremendous Bowl week that he had determined to play this upcoming season, and he even acknowledged that he wasn’t sure the place he’d swimsuit up. These are the realities of turning 37 earlier this month and having a 2025 wage cap hit of roughly $49.7 million on the books.
Nonetheless, as lately as final week, it felt unattainable that one thing would not get accomplished to maintain Stafford in L.A. Beginning quarterbacks usually change groups solely when their salaries outpace their efficiency, or when the trail towards competition seems bleak.
Neither of these describe Stafford, who battled via harm to submit his finest passer score in three years and information a younger Rams squad to the playoffs. And, as all of us bear in mind, Stafford had the Rams 13 yards from doubtlessly internet hosting the NFC Championship Recreation earlier than Jalen Carter delivered essentially the most clutch play of the postseason to maintain the eventual champion Eagles’ season alive.
So, if the Rams had been a play or two away from one other legit run on the Tremendous Bowl, is cash a adequate cause to chase off their quarterback? Monday, I did not suppose so. Right this moment, I am not so positive.
That is what occurs whenever you let quarterback-needy groups into the combo, because the Rams have accomplished by opening the door for these conversations.
On the time, it felt like sound enterprise technique to provide you with an appropriate quantity for a brand new contract. The Ravens did one thing comparable a few years in the past by tagging Lamar Jackson, permitting different groups to set the parameters for a long-term deal that he finally signed in Baltimore. Higher to let another person strike up a suggestion you possibly can match than bid in opposition to your self.
Until that exterior supply blows away the expectations, which might very nicely occur right here. The league revealed Thursday that the salary cap has jumped another $24 million (to a report $279.2 million) for the approaching season. We have written numerous phrases already about how disappointing this draft class of incoming quarterbacks is in comparison with current years.
In a world the place 9 quarterbacks are making north of $50 million per 12 months, it is smart if a determined workforce throws the financial institution at a veteran quarterback able to main a Tremendous Bowl run — which is precisely what’s taking place, as groups just like the Giants and Raiders have expressed “important curiosity” in Stafford. If both workforce is keen to pay a wage that may blow previous his present common of $40 million, the Rams might need no selection however to commerce him.
With all that context in thoughts, I am simply unsure how we obtained right here.
Stafford has delivered all the things the Rams might have presumably dreamed of once they acquired him in a blockbuster quarterback swap 4 years in the past. He has gained 34 video games, thrown 95 touchdowns, reached the playoffs thrice and hung a Tremendous Bowl banner for a franchise that desperately wanted to discover a foothold in a crowded L.A. market. He is additionally within the twilight of his profession and never in a lot of a place to start out over.
Do not get me flawed, Stafford would make a distinction in New York or Las Vegas. It’s extremely enjoyable to think about him throwing to Malik Nabers or Brock Bowers, and each groups have a top-10 draft choose they’d (presumably) refuse to half with in any commerce. The Raiders and Giants might make themselves aggressive with Stafford in a rush.
Is it sufficient, although? Can the Giants actually remake themselves from the worst workforce within the NFC to a contender earlier than Stafford’s profession winds down? Is Stafford actually going to be the rationale the Raiders survive the quarterback arms race that’s the AFC?
Are both of these conditions an enchancment on Stafford’s present scenario, with an ascending Rams workforce that may very well be a chunk or two away from one other championship run?
It feels unlikely, particularly with the clock ticking on Stafford’s profession. And so long as we’re doing a deep dive on this, it is price mentioning the legacy facet of it.
Loads of folks suppose Stafford already has a case for the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame. He does not have the All-Professional and even Professional Bowl nods you’d count on from an enshrinee, however he is tenth all time in each passing yards and passing touchdowns, and he does have one all-important Tremendous Bowl win. One other sturdy season or two might see him climb as excessive as fifth in yards and sixth in touchdowns. One other championship would make him simply the 14th quarterback to win a number of Tremendous Bowls. That, mixed along with his particular person numbers, looks like sufficient to succeed in the Corridor.
Making the flawed selection right here would have ramifications that final so much longer than what number of yards Stafford throws for in 2025.
That applies simply as a lot to the Rams, in fact. Not that common supervisor Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay have ever allowed notion to drive their decision-making, however I simply do not see the trail to enchancment within the quick time period with out Stafford.
The draft is a non-starter this 12 months, between the Rams selecting No. 26 general and the dearth of top-end quarterback expertise. Free company is not inspiring.
It is onerous to think about the Rams ponying as much as pay Sam Darnold in the event that they’re unwilling to do the identical for Stafford. After Darnold, the very best choices obtainable in March are both polarizing (Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, possibly Kirk Cousins) or uninspiring (Justin Fields, Jameis Winston, Mac Jones, Daniel Jones). With decisions like that on the prime of the board, it is smart that individuals are floating 33-year-old Jimmy Garoppolo, Stafford’s backup final 12 months, as a doable bridge quarterback to a brand new future.
My query is, who the hell needs to construct a bridge to the longer term when the present workforce may very well be one of many league’s finest in 2025?
This may all make much more sense if the Rams had been nonetheless paying the value for his or her aggressive method towards that Tremendous Bowl LVI championship, however they are not. They’ve drafted like maniacs the previous three years, and their funds are in positive form. No one’s saying the Rams have to push their chips in the best way they did a number of years in the past, however this can be a workforce that is able to win proper now.
Stafford’s age is a priority, and he is battled accidents usually throughout his time in L.A., however he makes the Rams a contender in 2025. That does not really feel as true if it is Garoppolo — or any of the opposite sensible alternate options — below middle as a substitute.
Cash, as common, is the principle motivator right here. Stafford has outplayed his present deal, and his cap numbers are untenable. It is smart if the Rams don’t desire him to reset the quarterback market, however certainly there is a quantity the 2 sides can agree on.
Stafford is aware of from expertise the way it feels to have gaudy profession earnings with not one of the success to indicate for it. Snead and McVay know the way it feels to desperately want a QB who comes via within the postseason.
Either side had higher suppose lengthy and onerous about all that earlier than a commerce is made that does not actually work for both of them.
David Helman covers the NFL for FOX Sports activities and hosts the NFL on FOX podcast. He beforehand spent 9 seasons overlaying the Cowboys for the workforce’s official web site. In 2018, he gained a regional Emmy for his position in producing “Dak Prescott: A Household Reunion” concerning the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State. Comply with him on Twitter at @davidhelman_.
Need nice tales delivered proper to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.
Get extra from Nationwide Soccer League Comply with your favorites to get details about video games, information and extra
