Any team looking to add Matthew Stafford before the 2025 season may need to be willing to give up a first-round pick in return for the veteran quarterback.
According to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, “several teams” that have reached out to the Los Angeles Rams believe it would cost a first-rounder to acquire Stafford.
Schultz noted that the Rams “want him back,” and that team representatives and Stafford’s agent are meeting in Indianapolis in order to work on adjusting his contract.
Stafford gave up most of his 2025 guarantees as part of a contract restructure last offseason. He has just $4 million remaining in guaranteed money next season, which kicks in March 14 via a roster bonus, according to Spotrac.
The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue reported Monday that Stafford’s camp met with team representatives before Super Bowl LIX took place in New Orleans on Feb. 9.
According to Rodrigue, “not much progressed after their opening conversations,” but Stafford and the team were expected to resume negotiating “in the coming weeks.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter then said Tuesday that both the Rams and Stafford have the same “goal” of allowing the quarterback to “continue and finish his NFL career with the Rams.”
Stafford said ahead of the 2024 season that he hoped to have “three or four” seasons left in his NFL career.
After the Rams’ Divisional Round elimination by the Philadelphia Eagles, however, Stafford was less certain, telling reporters asking about his NFL future he would have to “take some time to think about it.”
Considering what return the Rams could receive for a veteran quarterback considering retirement on a year-to-year basis brings to mind the New York Jets’ trade for Aaron Rodgers in 2022.
The Jets gave up a first-round pick swap, as well as a second-rounder that could have become a first had Rodgers not missed most of the 2023 season, as part of the package to acquire him from the Green Bay Packers.
Stafford turned 37 in February, making him about two years younger than Rodgers was at the time of the Jets trade. Rodgers, on the other hand, was just one season removed from back-to-back MVP campaigns at the time of the trade.
Given the uncertainty regarding Stafford’s future, giving up a first-round pick for him would make sense only for a team considering itself one quarterback change away from contending in 2025.
For now, all trade talks are theoretical. Over the Cap reports trading Stafford would cost the Rams more than $68 million in dead cap hits over the next two seasons, giving general manager Les Snead plenty of motivation to work out a new deal with the quarterback before his roster bonus hits next month.
