The Athletic’s Jeff Howe and others have talked about how the Los Angeles Rams’ buying an additional 2026 first-round choose throughout this yr’s draft might permit the membership to seize a alternative for beginning quarterback Matthew Stafford subsequent spring.
Throughout a latest look on SiriusXM’s Mad Canine Sports activities Radio, Rams head coach Sean McVay advised he isn’t but enthusiastic about who will take Stafford’s place and when.
“We’ve got an opportunity with him each time he is on the change, and love working with him. And I believe he can play so long as he desires, however thankfully, I am hoping it is a couple extra years,” McVay mentioned about Stafford, per Kevin Patra of NFL.com.
The Rams and Stafford are taking issues a yr at a time after the membership let him discover a commerce to both the New York Giants or Las Vegas Raiders earlier this offseason. Stafford reportedly accepted much less cash provided by these groups to stick with the Rams through a revised contract, and he later admitted he “by no means actually wished to go away” what’s been his NFL residence since 2021.
“If you’re capable of have actual conversations with folks you’re keen on and care about, you possibly can go one in all two methods. You’ll be able to both get additional aside, or you may get nearer,” McVay mentioned about chats he had with Stafford earlier than the veteran put pen to paper on his settlement. “And there’s no query in my thoughts that he and I are nearer than ever. There’s a whole lot of appreciation, there’s a whole lot of gratitude that we have been capable of work by a few of these issues. …It does not go misplaced on me how lucky I’m to have the ability to work with any individual as particular as he’s, each mentally, bodily, and extra importantly what he means with how he strikes as a person, and the way he positively impacts and influences his teammates and folks he is round.”
The Rams acquired second-round (No. 46) and seventh-round picks (No. 242) this yr and a 2026 first-round choice from the Atlanta Falcons for the twenty sixth choose of this yr’s draft and a 2025 third-round alternative (No. 101). As Matt Goul of the Cleveland Plain Vendor and others have famous, subsequent yr’s draft could possibly be accountable for what turns into a wonderful quarterback class.
Whereas McVay added that Stafford “got here out of this (previous) season feeling actually good bodily,” the one-time Tremendous Bowl champion turns 38 subsequent winter. Stafford might play “a pair extra years” earlier than he retires, however the upcoming marketing campaign could possibly be his final as a member of the Rams.
