The Los Angeles Rams are coming up on an organizational crossroads.
Cooper Kupp is already halfway out the door. Now Matthew Stafford has been granted permission to seek a trade. Stafford wants a raise, and the Rams — with a $49.7 million cap hit already on the books — are understandably reluctant to oblige. Stafford has done a lot since arriving in L.A., but he's 37. The Rams, devoid of long-term assets and in need of more financial flexibility, cannot afford to bend to Stafford's demands.
There's a world in which the market cools on Stafford and he's able to work out a more team-friendly deal. His well-documented preference is to remain in Los Angeles, even if the path forward is murkier than ever. Offloading Kupp, his favorite target, is a slap in the face. It's also a sobering admission of where this team is at: the current roster feels perpetually doomed to 9-10 wins and early postseason exits. Something has to change.
If the Rams end up trading Stafford, nailing his replacement is essential. Los Angeles isn't positioned for a top-tier rookie and the in-house options lack credibility. With all due respect to Stetson Bennett, he's not built to lead a team in the NFL.
There's a lot of natural buzz around names like Sam Darnold or Kirk Cousins, but the most likely Stafford successor comes with a bit more baggage. Fine, a lot more baggage.
Rams might swap out Matthew Stafford for Aaron Rodgers this offseason
NBC Sports' Mike Florio expects the offseason to unfold in two consequential steps for Stafford and L.A. He believes Stafford will get traded to the New York Giants, which opens the door for Aaron Rodgers, a SoCal kid who played his college football at California, to sign a "sweetheart deal" with the Rams.
"Again, it’s just a prediction," he writes, citing an unnamed former GM. "But it’s not from someone in the media or a fan. It’s from someone who knows a thing or two about how the NFL sausage gets made, based on having plenty of time turning the handle."
Florio notes that Los Angeles would be able to use the savings from Rodgers' sweetheart deal to add complementary weapons and to line up future extensions for the likes of Puka Nacua. If there's an offense built to squeeze one or two more contending seasons out of Rodgers, it's probably Sean McVay's scheme. The Rams run a tight ship, and Rodgers would need to sacrifice his ego in certain places (a big ask, I know), but at the end of the day, Los Angeles is a contender in Rodgers' hometown. It's hard to imagine a better pivot after the New York Jets experiment imploded.
For the Rams, however, it's fair to wonder if this is the best plan. Rodgers comes with a lot of off-field noise. He also traditionally likes to call the shots offensively. Most of Rodgers' OCs over the years have been pushovers — or at least deeply aligned with Rodgers' instincts. McVay was the mastermind behind L.A.'s Super Bowl run. He's one of the sharpest minds in football, and the team's success is rooted in executing McVay's scheme to a T. Can Rodgers willingly take a backseat and let McVay pull the strings? It's a fair concern.
Moreover, Rodgers is 41. There are other, less distracting ways to save money, whether it's Cousins, a rookie, or a different free agent. (Russell Wilson? Justin Fields? Jacoby Brissett? The options are plentiful.) Sure, maybe the Rams aren't ready to hand out a four-year commitment to a mid-tier quarterback like Sam Darnold. They also don't want to extend Stafford. In that case, just bite the bullet, rebuild for a couple seasons, and look for a more sustainable path forward. There's no need to incur the Rodgers headache just to invariably flame out in the playoffs again — if the Rams even reach the playoffs. Rodgers is older than Stafford, and he's worse. It's hard to find a point to signing him, other than to feign contention in a weak division.
Rodgers was plenty productive last season in a vacuum — 3,897 passing yards and 28 touchdowns — but the Jets won five games and were a national laughingstock. The former MVP just doesn't have it like he used to. The Rams can do better.