What’s Plan B At Quarterback If The Rams Trade Matthew Stafford?

The biggest storyline in the early weeks of the NFL offseason has been the Rams’ saga with incumbent starting QB Matthew Stafford. Acquired in a trade with the Lions in 2021, Stafford won the 2022 Super Bowl in his first season with the team and has been a key piece enabling their run to the playoffs in the past two years. Still, his future in Los Angeles is uncertain, to say the least.

Rams HC Sean McVay has been effusive with his praise for Stafford over the years, but actions speak louder than words and the Rams’ hesitancy to commit major money to Stafford speaks volumes. Negotiations stretched all the way into camp last year before a compromise, and they’ve resumed in recent weeks. If they can’t find a number both sides are happy with, there is a real possibility that the Rams will move on from their Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

What would it look like if they did? How would the Rams replace Stafford under center? Let’s dive in: 

Stafford’s Contract

Although Stafford remains under contract through 2026, the reality is more complicated than that. Per Over The Cap, Stafford has a $4 million roster bonus due March 19, the only guaranteed money left on his deal, and a $23 million base salary. In 2026, he’s owed a $5 million roster bonus in March and a $26 million base salary, for a total of two years and $58 million remaining. With the top of the market at $60 million annually, it’s safe to say Stafford is underpaid. 

While Stafford probably isn’t looking to reset the market, finding a middle ground the Rams are comfortable with could be challenging. From Stafford’s perspective, he’s still playing well even in the twilight of his career at 37, and the Rams represent his best chance to compete for another Super Bowl as his career comes to a close. From the Rams’ perspective, Stafford is the best quarterback they could reasonably expect to obtain this offseason. Although they are a young team, they’re coming off back-to-back playoff appearances and capable of competing now.

Still, even a deal at $40 million per year would eat up a lot of cash, and the Rams have a strong core of young players who will be due for contract extensions in the coming seasons. Paying Stafford a significant chunk of their cap doesn’t line up with the prime of the rest of this roster. Forward-thinking executives within the organization seem hesitant to make that commitment, which is why the possibility of a trade is alive. 

Trading Stafford would leave behind a dead money charge of $45 million with $4 million in savings from his current figure. Cutting him would be $49 million in dead money due to the guaranteed roster bonus but the Rams should have enough of a trade market for Stafford to where a release isn’t necessary, even factoring Stafford’s preferences into a deal. A trade also would net the Rams back assets that could be used to replace Stafford. 

Stafford’s Trade Value

So what would a trade for Stafford look like? That’s a little harder to pin down. As a 37-year-old veteran coming off a strong campaign, Stafford isn’t likely to be viewed as just a bridge or temporary starter given the price he’ll demand. Teams with established stars or developing young signal-callers aren’t likely to be in the market, and teams that need a quarterback but are still rebuilding are also less likely to be in the mix. The target market for the Rams is veteran teams who are a quality starting quarterback away from seriously competing. 

The 2023 Aaron Rodgers trade might give us a bit of a blueprint. The Packers traded the four-time MVP to the Jets for a first-round pick swap, a second-round pick and a conditional second the following year (as well as a swap of fifth- and sixth-rounders). That 2024 second-round pick could have become a first had Rodgers played enough that season, but he tore his Achilles in the opening game and missed the rest of the year.

Stafford has several things going for him relative to Rodgers. He’s two years younger than Rodgers was at the time of the trade and is coming off a far better season than Rodgers was. However, he’s not a four-time MVP. The Jets gave up a substantial haul for Rodgers because they hoped he could recapture the magic of his 2020 and 2021 seasons, in which he won back-to-back MVPs. The fact that he flamed out in New York only hurts the Rams’ bargaining position even further. A new team also has to figure out a contract it’s comfortable with for Stafford, meaning the investment is picks and cash, not one or the other. 

If I had to guess, Stafford would command a quality Day 2 pick in a trade, probably in a package of selections. The Rams reportedly want a first in exchange for Stafford if he hits the market, but this is likely just a negotiating tactic. Los Angeles would obviously take a first if offered, but I doubt any team would bite on that, and the price will come down if talks heat up. I could see him traded for a 2025 second-rounder and a 2026 third, or something to that effect. There are a number of potential contenders who could view Stafford as an upgrade under center, including the Steelers, Vikings, Browns and Colts, so the trade market should be strong should we get to that point.

Veteran Options

If Stafford is moved, the Rams will likely begin searching for his replacement in the veteran market. It isn’t a terribly strong free agent group (quarterbacks rarely are) but there are some viable starters here.

Sam Darnold: The clear-cut top quarterback on the open market this offseason, Darnold is coming off a largely stellar season in Minnesota. Despite his rocky finish to the season that saw the Vikings eliminated in the wild-card round, Darnold will have his suitors this offseason. He led his team to a 14-3 regular season record while throwing for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns.

Darnold is speculated to command a salary similar to Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield or Seahawks QB Geno Smith. Both signed three-year deals, Mayfield for $33.3 million APY and Smith for $25 million APY. Darnold probably settles in the $30 million per year range, though there’s a chance he can negotiate closer to the contract Daniel Jones signed with the Giants in 2023, one worth $160 million over four years. That deal aged poorly, but Darnold arguably has a better case than Jones did prior to signing that extension, and his agent will be pushing for it if nothing else.

Minnesota seems reticent to shell out for Darnold, likely due to reservations about his play down the stretch and the recent investment they made in first-round QB J.J. McCarthy. So he should be available for other teams to sort out if they have similar qualms, including the Rams. Stafford is a better player than Darnold and the difference in salary between them could end up being smaller than the difference in their performance. But the big advantage Darnold has over Stafford is that he’ll likely be playing for a lot longer. For a Rams team mindful of its future, that could matter a lot.

Jimmy Garoppolo: A personal favorite of McVay’s, according to a report, Garoppolo is the former starter in San Francisco and Las Vegas before signing a one-year deal to back up Stafford last offseason. He’s a pending free agent, but could easily be brought back, either as a backup yet again or even as a potential starting option.

The positives for Garoppolo are clear: he’s cheap and experienced. He started in Week 18 for the Rams this past season, almost leading them to a victory in Seattle despite Los Angeles resting many of their starters. He started in a Super Bowl for the 49ers, building a 10-point lead before ultimately falling short against the Chiefs. Garoppolo has one of the better resumes of the available options.

However, Garoppolo just doesn’t seem like a viable starter for a contending team in 2025. His struggles in San Francisco are well-documented, including his injury history, and he lost the starting job for the Raiders to 2023 fourth-round QB Aidan O’Connell. For Garoppolo to start for the Rams in Week 1, it feels like a lot of their top options would have to fall through.

Kirk Cousins: Last season’s biggest free-agent quarterback signing, Cousins had a disappointing year. Coming off an Achilles tear in 2023, he never quite looked comfortable on the field, eventually being benched in the final weeks of the season for first-round QB Michael Penix Jr.

With Penix as the clear future in Atlanta, Cousins will most likely be cut this offseason, though the Falcons are attempting a poker face to try and finagle a trade instead that would free them of some of the burden of his $27.5 million guaranteed 2025 salary. Based purely on last season’s results, Cousins wouldn’t be up for a starting job anywhere. But if he’s available for the league minimum with Atlanta picking up the rest of the tab like the Broncos and QB Russell Wilson last year, and a team believes another year removed from his Achilles injury could revive his game, there’s a lot to like with Cousins.

Cousins has a track record of putting up stats and a winning record when in advantageous situations. The Rams can offer him a great offense with weapons to throw to and an innovative coach who just so happened to overlap with him at the start of his career in Washington. It would be a good match.

Justin Fields: Seen by many as the “upside play” in this quarterback class, Fields is a former first-round pick of the Chicago Bears in 2021. He never blossomed in Chicago, struggling with accuracy and consistency amidst all the roster and organizational turmoil the Bears faced. He was traded to the Steelers in 2024, opening the season as the starter and playing well until a couple of down performances, combined with Wilson getting healthy, moved him to the bench.

Even when Fields was running a smooth offense in Pittsburgh to open this past season, it was built around a scheme propping him up, not the other way around. He averaged just over 184 passing yards per game in his six starts, throwing for a total of five touchdowns. He did add value with his legs, rushing for 289 yards and another five touchdowns last season, but his overall PFF grade was just a 71.0.

Unless McVay sees something in Fields, perhaps with the potential of his mobility adding a new dimension to his offense, it’s not a likely match. Fields doesn’t fit the types of quarterbacks McVay has targeted and had success with, and there’s not much on his NFL tape to suggest he can become a long-term starter in this league. While the idea of Fields is still enticing, the reality hasn’t lived up to those expectations yet.

Aaron Rodgers: The wild card here might be Rodgers. With his split from the Jets officially announced, it seems Rodgers isn’t ready to call it quits just yet. He’s contemplated retirement for several years now, but he indicated to New York before being let go that he wanted to play in 2025.

Rodgers is coming off a disaster with the Jets. After missing his first season with the franchise due to an Achilles injury suffered four snaps into the season, he returned in 2024 to largely poor results. The Jets finished 5-12, with Rodgers looking frustrated and disinterested at varying times throughout the year. Statistically, he wasn’t a disaster, but you won’t find many arguing he was part of the solution in New York.

Bringing on Rodgers would invite a lot of off-field drama. He’s not shy about bringing in his guys, using whatever leverage he can create to get his friends on staff or on the roster. He makes regular media appearances and isn’t afraid to speak his mind about all manner of topics, football or otherwise. It’s something the Jets’ brass flagged as an issue, though his departure from the team meant it didn’t need to be addressed. It’s something the Rams will have to monitor if they decide to sign him.

Additionally, it’s been three seasons since Rodgers has been an above-average quarterback. One of those years was lost to injury, but he failed to reach 4,000 passing yards or 30 touchdowns in each of his healthy seasons during that span. Signing him is a gamble with questionable upside given he will turn 42 during the 2025 season and may be hitting an age wall at this point in his career.

Draft Prospects

Perhaps the Rams are planning to invest in their future at quarterback, using the draft picks they would get in return for Stafford to draft his replacement. It’s a down year for quarterbacks, as only two are projected first-rounders after six went on Day 1 last year. But there are options if the Rams are set on drafting someone under center.

Even those two first-rounders have split opinions in the draft community. It’s possible one or both fall out of the top five, or even the top 10. We just don’t know how comfortable teams are drafting these guys with top-end assets.

Still, it’s highly unlikely one is available where the Rams are picking at No. 26. The Rams would need to pair their first-round pick with some Day 2 assets, perhaps flipping some of the picks they’d get in a hypothetical Stafford deal, to move into range should a top prospect slide. It’s a risk, but Los Angeles isn’t known for always playing it safe with draft picks.

Shedeur Sanders: If there was one quarterback Los Angeles would want in this draft, it’s Colorado’s Sanders. Although I don’t see him as an elite, blue-chip prospect, there’s so much to like in his game and he’d fit perfectly into McVay’s system.

To quote from my draft profile on Sanders: “The poise and feel Sanders has in his game is exceptional. He processes the game at an extremely high level, making complex reads and taking on a lot of pre-snap responsibility for a college quarterback. …When Sanders wants to make a throw, he makes it. His throwing mechanics are buttery smooth and lightning fast, rifling the ball into tight windows down the field. He throws his receivers open regularly, playing with elite timing and anticipation to keep the offense humming. Again, Sanders’ mental processing is a step above everyone else, and he plays every snap with an advantage as a result.”

That’s a guy McVay would want to go get. However, it’ll take a lot of maneuvering to pull that off. The demand for Sanders is likely to be high, even if some of the teams at the top eschew taking a quarterback to draft one of the incredibly talented defensive players littered near the tops of boards.

Cam Ward: I’m not sure this Rams staff will be as high on Miami’s Ward as they might be on Sanders. He’s incredibly talented, don’t get me wrong, but he doesn’t fit the system McVay runs quite as well as Sanders does. That said, he’s the only other prospect you could throw into a starting lineup right away, and he’s talented enough to become a franchise quarterback down the line.

Here’s an excerpt from my draft profile on Ward: “The combination of accuracy and velocity on Ward’s throws is breathtaking. He zips passes into tight coverage without hesitation, using a lightning-quick throwing motion and firm base to maintain his accuracy at all levels of the field. He can layer throws over linebackers and displays nice touch on his passes, even at deeper levels of the field. The timing and anticipation on his passes, particularly over the middle of the field, is NFL-caliber. …Creation ability is a plus-plus with Ward. It’s his best trait and what makes him such an alluring prospect.”

With Ward, you’re buying into his ability to throw over the middle of the field and create out of structure. Like Sanders, landing Ward would require the Rams to trade up into or near the top 10, but that’s not a move out of the question. We’ve seen similar moves made in the past, in years that were viewed as lacking top-end quarterback prospects, and we could see it again here.

Day 2 Prospects: There are a number of quarterback prospects likely to be selected in Rounds 2-4 that could be of interest to the Rams if they can’t (or won’t) trade up for one of the top two guys.

Alabama’s Jalen Milroe is a high-ceiling, low-floor developmental prospect. He had his ups and downs in college, but he’s the most physically gifted prospect in this draft with serious upside if he has a few years to sit and learn in the NFL. 

Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel holds the record for most games started in college football. He’s a savvy veteran who can hit timing routes with consistent zip and accuracy. Although he’s a bit undersized, he can run an NFL offense.

Ohio State’s Will Howard really came on to close the year. He’s a big-bodied passer who can drive the ball down the field and create with his legs.

Texas’ Quinn Ewers is a bit like Milroe in that he will likely need to sit multiple years before stepping onto an NFL field. Despite his wonky mechanics and touch-and-go accuracy, he’s a toolsy guy with untapped potential.

Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart is a prospect I’m lower on, but his name is starting to be circulated as a potential late-first early-second guy. It’s hard to know what to make of him coming out of Lane Kiffin’s offense, but he certainly passes the off-the-bus test.

What Will The Rams Do?

Ultimately, I think they get a deal done with Stafford. As I’ve outlined, the alternatives aren’t great, and Stafford is easily the best option for this team — not just in 2025, but likely a year or two beyond that as well. Insiders have stressed that the Rams do want to get a deal done and Stafford staying in Los Angeles is the most likely outcome.

Still, we’re talking about this because it’s not a done deal. There’s a chance the two sides are unable to agree on a number and in that case, Stafford could be on the move. If he is traded, here’s how I would rank the Rams’ most likely alternatives:

1: Pair Kirk Cousins with your Day 2 draft pick of choice. This is the one that makes the most sense to me. Cousins can effectively operate as a budget Stafford, and he would actually come at a discount, unlike Darnold. Los Angeles could use a pick gained in return for Stafford to draft someone like Milroe or Gabriel to develop for the future, and if Cousins can regain his legs, he could lead the Rams back to the playoffs.

2: Ink Cousins or re-sign Garoppolo and trade up for whichever of the top quarterbacks fall. Back in 2017, after Mitchell Trubisky went No. 2 to the Bears, the next quarterback didn’t come off the board until the Chiefs traded up to No. 10 to draft Patrick Mahomes. Obviously, the rest of the league wishes they could have that one back. But that class wasn’t seen as a good one pre-draft, and many thought Mahomes was over-drafted.

It’s possible this class shakes out similarly, and one of Sanders or Ward is available around No. 10. If Stafford is traded, the Rams would have the assets to trade in their No. 26 pick and jump up the board, giving them their quarterback of the future.

Of course, this isn’t a plan that could be set in stone pre-draft, so signing someone like Cousins would still be paramount when free agency opens. However, if they have an inkling that perhaps the league won’t be targeting these guys in the top five, they could choose to be frugal and sign Garoppolo, expecting to net one of the top prospects on draft day.

3: Aaron Rodgers. If the first two options fall through, this is when I think Rodgers would come into play. I don’t foresee the Rams willing to give up contending in 2025 unless they’re committing to starting one of Sanders or Ward, so I doubt they target someone like Fields.

Instead, I think they’d pivot to Rodgers. Like Cousins, Rodgers would come at a discount and could, theoretically, lead the Rams back to the playoffs. It’s a long shot, but there might not be better alternatives out there.