Matthew Stafford and the Rams are reportedly meeting on Friday to discuss his future with the team, and if the sides cannot come together on a deal, there are many who believe the Raiders are the frontrunner to pull off a trade for the veteran quarterback.
The Giants have been reported to be in the mix for Stafford, but according to Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter, the Giants aren’t believed to be a team high on Stafford’s list of possibilities.
“At this point, I know that the Giants are a team that was interested in Matthew Stafford,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insiders podcast. “I would tell you this, it is my firm belief that the Raiders would be his choice if he were to go play somewhere else.”
“I do not believe, although he has not told me this, I don’t believe that it’s Matthew’s desire whatsoever to go to New York,” Hondo continued. “I’ve been told that, but not by him. I want to make that clear, that it is probably not the desire of his heart to go to New York.”
Carpenter said there is another team in the mix for Stafford, but didn’t disclose the name of the team. In a lot of cases, a “mystery” team is a playoff-caliber team with an established quarterback where the team does not want information leaking that they are looking for an upgrade at the position.
As for how the situation is going to play out between the Rams and Stafford, Carpenter believes the odds are slightly in favor of the sides going in different directions.
“I think both parties have had feelings of, ‘Okay, let’s move on.’ But you never know. When the rubber hits the road, it may be, ‘Gee, you won us a Super Bowl. You played really good last year. Maybe we just repair this.’ But I will tell you, I think that there’s been a lot of talk about what the Rams will look like without Matthew and I would certainly say, if I were giving my opinion, I think there’s a better chance that he moves on, though certainly not 100 percent at all, and that they go in a different direction.”
But in the hours since Carpenter’s report, it sounds like the odds of Stafford staying in Los Angeles might have shifted just a little.
“A Matthew Stafford decision looms, and his return to the Rams feels more likely to those involved,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on X on Friday morning. “Nothing final. But clearly more likely than a few days ago when it appeared he was set to leave.”
Safe to say, it’s a fluid situation around Stafford right now, but one thing that everyone seems to be in agreement on is that the situation is going to be figured out much sooner than later.
If Stafford does choose to stay with the Rams, it will be interesting to see who the next veteran quarterback on the Raiders’ list will be.
x: @raidersbeat
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