The Raiders are almost two weeks removed from unloading Christian Wilkins and his four-year, $110 million contract, and based on the latest Matthew Stafford news, the newest decision makers in Las Vegas might have narrowly missed another bad contract.
For reasons different than what led to Wilkins’ release, there is growing uncertainty in Los Angeles that Stafford is going to be ready for the start of the season.
Stafford has yet to practice with the Rams at training camp and according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, it’s an aggravated disc that has been keeping Stafford off the field.
On Wednesday, it was reported that Stafford received an epidural injection for the aggravated disc, and going forward it would be naive to assume the veteran quarterback is going to be ready for the regular season opener.
Every public indication is that the Rams believe Stafford will return soon, but a Wednesday post on X was a little suspicious. Generally, when a team begins to push their backup quarterback as a viable option, it’s not a good sign for the starter.
In this case, the potential red herring was shared by the aforementioned Rapoport.
“The #Rams remain confident that Matthew Stafford will be ready to begin the regular season. But as was clear during yesterday’s joint practice with the #Cowboys, they love what Jimmy Garoppolo brings as his backup,” Rapoport posted on X.
It will be interesting to see how Stafford’s situation plays out, but for now it looks like the Raiders dodged a bullet by not trading for him.
Maybe the Raiders were just fortunate Stafford (and his wife) decided they were comfortable with the Rams again, but a detail to keep in mind is that the Raiders balked at the opportunity to give up a premium pick for the 37-year-old quarterback.
Based on comments from flagship radio host Q Myers in March, the Raiders were only willing to give up a third-round pick for Stafford, which was the price they later paid for Geno Smith.
“I was told [the Rams] were asking for a [first-round pick]. The Raiders said ‘No.’ I was told that they were asking for a [second-round pick]. The Raiders said ‘No,” Myers said on the Locked On Raiders Podcast in March.
“I think they were more in line with the third-round pick that they got for Davante Adams and maybe one next year, as well, and the Rams said ‘No,’ they were better off with Matt Stafford than without him.”
If Stafford ends up missing time in his 17th NFL season, the Rams will turn to Garoppolo and that possible scenario could provide drama of its own.
It was Garoppolo in 2023 that almost “killed” Davante Adams with bad throws and on the Netflix documentary Receiver, Adams said he signed off on the decision to bench Garoppolo during the season.
x: @raidersbeat