Report Might Set the Stage for Matthew Stafford Trade to the Raiders

Unless something changes soon, it feels like the Rams and Matthew Stafford are heading for a divorce and multiple reports have indicated the Raiders will be interested if he officially becomes available.

“Raiders minority owner Tom Brady has been in contact with Stafford’s camp about the possibility of the 37-year-old coming to Las Vegas, according to multiple NFL sources,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore reported on Tuesday, and the expectation is that there will be a resolution to Stafford’s future much sooner than later.

But in order for the Rams to move on from Stafford, there has to be a reasonable replacement on the table and according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, one quarterback the Rams are comfortable with is someone they already have on the roster – and once played for the Raiders, in fact.

“Here’s what I know. The Rams are comfortable with Jimmy Garoppolo,” Russini said on the Scoop City podcast (13:10 mark in video below). “Jimmy will be a free agent. I expect them to sign Jimmy… This is not me. I’m not picking a side here. I’m just telling you [how they view him]. I can tell you the Rams feel good about Jimmy G. I don’t think this is a leverage play.”

Not everyone is buying the notion the Rams would be willing to go into the 2025 season with Garoppolo as their QB1, but a report this week from Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News brought up a more viable alternative to Stafford for the Rams.

“Sources tell the Daily News that [Aaron] Rodgers, 41, prefers to play for the Rams and that the outgoing Jets QB would bring Davante Adams with him once the Jets wide receiver becomes a free agent,” Lenoard, who covered Rodgers with the Jets, wrote in a NYDN column on Tuesday.

Rodgers will be a free agent once the Jets release him and Adams is likely to be in the same situation with a few weeks, although the Jets haven’t made any announcements on what they plan to do with Adams.

It’s worth noting that ESPN’s Adam Schefter has also linked Rodgers to the Rams in recent days.

With Cooper Kupp and potentially Stafford on their way out in Los Angeles, the Rams could quickly retool with Rodgers and Adams, and feel good about their chances in the NFC with that veteran combo. Furthermore, the Rams could add draft picks by trading Stafford and Kupp, while Rodgers and Adams wouldn’t require any kind of trade compensation.

It has been floated in the media that the Rams are seeking a first-round pick in exchange for Stafford, but the cost is mostly likely going to be significantly less.

You can read more about Stafford’s complicated trade value here. The short version, though, looks like this…

Stafford doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract so, in theory, he would have to go anywhere the Rams decide to trade him. But because of the size of Stafford’s contract, he doesn’t need a no-trade clause because no team is going to give up drafts picks to a acquire a quarterback with a $49+ million cap number that doesn’t want to play for them.

What that means is the Rams aren’t necessarily going to have the trade leverage to get a first-round pick for Stafford.

According to OverTheCap, Stafford has two years remaining on the extension he signed with the Rams in 2022. Those two remaining years give Stafford nearly as much leverage in his (potential) next destination as a trade clause would have.

Stafford’s situation in Los Angeles is not the same scenario as what played out between Derek Carr and the Raiders two years ago, but there are more similarities than what it might seem on the surface.

Presumably, Stafford isn’t going to sit back and wait to see where the Rams want to trade him, and he also has no reason to let the Rams drag his (potential) new team into a bidding war.

Teams might be willing to give up a first-round pick for Stafford, but since he is essentially going to have the ability to choose his new team, the Rams won’t have the luxury of getting a premium pick for Stafford if he doesn’t want it to play out that way.

The Rams can’t sit on a $49.6 million contract and sign Rodgers or any other quarterback they choose to replace Stafford – and even if they could, how long could they pretend they were willing to absorb a 2025 cap hit of nearly $50 million for a backup quarterback?

Just something to think about as the situation around Stafford and the Rams, and potentially the Raiders, continues to play out.

As of early this week, the Raiders were one of four teams known to be interested in trading for Stafford.

“The teams you’d suspect would have their hat in the ring have, indeed, thrown their hats in the ring,” Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported on Monday. “The New York Giants, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Las Vegas Raiders and others have shown interest.”

In theory, the Raiders would provide a better completive situation for Stafford than the Browns and Giants. The Steelers might be an interesting option, too, especially if he likes cold weather and rust.

x: @raidersbeat