The Raiders aren’t going to have Matthew Stafford at quarterback this year and the details around how he ended up returning to the Rams have been popping up in the hours since the team announced his return.
Based on a report from Vinny Bonsignore of the Last Vegas Review-Journal, the Raiders could have traded for Stafford if they had upped their offer to the Rams.
“[The] Raiders showed some discipline by not budging on holding onto pick No. 6. Things would look different right now had they been okay with moving that pick to get Stafford,” Bonsignore reported on X on Friday.
Based on Bonsignore’s report, it’s sounds like the Raiders might have been offering a second-round pick for Stafford.
But according to The Athletic, they weren’t offering a second-round pick for him, either.
“The Raiders were not going to give up the No. 6 pick, league sources said, but a second-round pick may have done it once the Rams knew Stafford wanted out,” The Athletic’s Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed reported on Friday. “But the Rams stayed in contact with him the last couple of days after they allowed him to test the market with the Giants and Raiders, and Stafford was unable to walk away, choosing home and a team that nearly beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs.”
The Raiders have two third-round picks and it sounds like one of those may have been in their offer to the Rams for Stafford.
If Stafford had wanted to use his leverage, he could have forced the Rams to take a lesser pick. But if he is really taking less money in his new deal, it would seem he never wanted to leave Los Angeles in the first place.
And if Stafford didn’t want to leave the Rams, what in the world have we been doing covering a potential trade for the last three weeks?
Tom Brady is a busy man. He probably enjoyed his time in Montana racing Stafford down the slopes, but in hindsight… it might have been a waste of everyone’s time.
x: @raidersbeat
Giving up the #6 pick for that old QB would have been utterly ridiculous! Glad he’s out of the picture, now. Plus I have a little more confidence in Tom Brady for not falling for the Rams b.s. They need to spend those draft picks on young players that will play on the cheap for 4-5 years.
Look, Stafford would have immediately been our starter. And he’d be a total upgrade over everyone we have. But we’d still need a youth QB. And that #6 pick will be needed to trade up and get Cam Ward. Sanders isn’t worth trading up for IMO.
True, Stafford is better than anything we have, but he sure isn’t worth what the Rams were trying to get for him. Only a fool gives up high drafts picks for a 37-yr old QB!
I can’t wait till we play they sorry @@@!
Been a raider fan since 74 !! One thing about being a raider fan is, we don’t want nobody that don’t wanna be here!! Raider 4 life!!!!