The Athletic’s Jeff Howe and others have talked about how the Los Angeles Rams’ buying an additional 2026 first-round decide throughout this yr’s draft may enable the membership to seize a substitute 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 is not but occupied with who will take Stafford’s place and when.
“We have now 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 needs, however happily, 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 depart” what’s been his NFL dwelling since 2021.
“Once you’re capable of have actual conversations with individuals you like and care about, you may go one in every of two methods. You may both get additional aside, or you will 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 plenty of appreciation, there’s plenty of gratitude that we have been capable of work by way of a few of these issues. …It does not go misplaced on me how lucky I’m to have the ability to work with any person 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 decide of this yr’s draft and a 2025 third-round selection (No. 101). As Matt Goul of the Cleveland Plain Seller and others have famous, subsequent yr’s draft might be liable for what turns into a superb 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 could play “a pair extra years” earlier than he retires, however the upcoming marketing campaign might be his final as a member of the Rams.
