NFL rumour: Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is ‘fully available’ in trade talks.
According to the NFL’s Michael Lombardi, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is “fully available.”
On The Pat McAfee Show, Lombardi said the following:
“not shiny[hew] Stafford is fully available. They are trying. They will love to trade with him. They can’t do that, because he’s got $57 million guaranteed.”
The Rams are coming off a disappointing 5-12 season. They set the record for the most losses by a Super Bowl champion in NFL history.
With a disappointing roster and negative cap space, it’s no surprise that the Rams are exploring all avenues to improve, including trading Stafford.
Last season, Stafford played in nine games before suffering a spinal cord contusion. He threw for 2,087 yards, 10 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. His average rating of 87.4 was the lowest since 2014.
NFL rumours: Why the Rams shouldn’t trade Matthew Stafford
From a cap’s perspective, trading Stafford would be unwise. His transfer would leave the Rams at $49.5 million in dead cap, per Spotrac. Even if the Rams could trade him without recovering any extra salary, they would still lose out on an additional $28 million in cap space. The Rams are already over cover, so countering this deadbeat is just not feasible.
In addition, it would be difficult to find a business partner for Stafford. He’s coming off a season-ending injury, and he has four years left on his current deal.
Moreover, teams with plenty of space (Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, Houston Texans, Las Vegas Raiders, Cincinnati Bengals) have promising young quarterbacks (Joe Burrow, Justin Fields, Desmond Ridder) and/ or top ten picks. So, acquiring Stafford wouldn’t make sense to them.
With little interest in Lamar Jackson, Stafford probably makes more sense in the short term.
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