All Things Rams - Stafford Thread

[edindetroit]

He should get into the Hall of Fame just for surviving as long as he did as the Lions quarterback.

[Topweasel]

He should get into the Hall of Fame just for surviving as long as he did as the Lions quarterback.

No, but he has borderline statistics. The fastest to several stats, possible longevity can play a part, and success as a Rams, another SB (even just an appearance) he should be a lock. But even then the surviving Lions should play a part. We use metrics for deciding whether a player gets in based on Pro-bowls and All Pros and a few other stats that Stafford had no chance to get precisely because he played for the Lions. As an Example name one other 5k 40+ TD season that doesn't get a PB appearance, yet that was what happened to Stafford on his first full season. Typically that kind of performance is for that very reason gets extra attention, new hotness, 2 ruined season, goes through the roof. Yet completely ignored even as they had to switch to alternatives.

An example would be the stink that followed him to his SB win. Lets give Murray and Rodgers credit, but look at Wilson. 1k more yards, 15 more TD's, same Passer rating. 12-5 vs. 6-8. It's a popularity contest and Stafford doesn't get in very specifically because of his Lions history, but its the 3-4 of those he didn't get because of the Lions that are going to be used against him in any HoF honors. So maybe there should be a surviving the Lions aspect.

[edindetroit]

[ghandi]

Haha Rams announced today that Allen Robinson may be available for trade....Yeah let the suitors line up for a WR that gets paid 15M+ and is a free agent bust.

[The King]

So glad we passed on him with his Detroit ties. He was cooked two years ago. His last season with the Bears was awful. I think he had the least separation at WR in the league.

[whatever_gong82]

This is a very wild rumor, and if true, is really ironic:

RUMOR: Former NFL GM says Rams are trying to trade Matthew Stafford

[whatever_gong82]

IMO, the Rams will keep Stafford, and try to fix what went awry last season.

Here's what the Rams' GM is saying on the current situation, via the Athletic:


Rams GM: QB Matthew Stafford ‘definitely someone we’re going to rely on’ in ‘remodel’


By Jourdan Rodrigue
3h ago

Rams general manager Les Snead called quarterback Matthew Stafford a “weight-bearing wall” for what the team is calling a “remodel” in 2023 and beyond, in speaking with Los Angeles reporters Thursday.

“I think we’ll definitely rely on Matthew, he’s definitely one of our pillars,” said Snead. “He’s definitely someone we’re going to rely on, (who) we’re gonna have to rely on as we do remodel this.”




Stafford, whose 2022 season ended after nine games when he suffered a spinal cord contusion, has been the subject of retirement and even trade speculation in recent months. Stafford has publicly said on multiple occasions that he has no plans to retire.

But because the Rams are overhauling at least some of their roster after they followed their Super Bowl-winning season with a 5-12 disaster, their star players — Stafford, Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp and Jalen Ramsey — have been under scrutiny as possible tradable assets.

Snead also referred to Kupp and Donald as “weight-bearing walls” for what lies ahead, notably leaving out Ramsey. The three-time All-Pro cornerback and team captain is the subject of trade talks, team and league sources have said over the last few weeks. Those talks could escalate as the tampering window opens Monday.



The Rams have gotten trade calls on all of their core players according to team and league sources, as teams have sought to understand just how many could, or would possibly be available. Snead’s commitment to Stafford, Kupp and Donald indicated that, at least in the short term, those three players are off the table. Snead added he has received calls on “nine” different Rams players this offseason.

“The reason I say ‘remodel’, not ‘rebuild,’ is a player like Matthew Stafford is — to me, in a rebuild, you would just bulldoze the house down and rebuild from the ground up,” said Snead. “But again, when you have someone like Matthew Stafford, players like Cooper Kupp, Aaron Donald … there are some weight-bearing walls there that we still have, and we’re gonna rely on those. … and at that point remodel around them.”

Also expected to depart: outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, who the Rams are expected to release if they cannot trade, and future Hall of Fame inside linebacker Bobby Wagner, who mutually agreed to part ways with the team at the start of the new league year on March 15.



The Rams recently gave receiver Allen Robinson permission to seek a trade, a league source said, and are open to taking on part of his salary to facilitate that. Robinson, who is owed $15 million in 2023, was signed just a year ago in free agency to a three-year, $46.5 million deal but did not produce impactful numbers in a 2022 Rams season also marred by unprecedented injuries.


Jourdan Rodrigue covers the Los Angeles Rams for The Athletic. Previously, she covered the Carolina Panthers for The Athletic and The Charlotte Observer, and Penn State football for the Centre Daily Times. She is an ASU grad and a recipient of the PFWA's Terez A. Paylor Emerging Writer award (2021). Follow Jourdan on Twitter @JourdanRodrigue

[wcfwtf]

I believe the Rams will be playing the Lions next year because of divisional rotation.
That could be a delightful game for us Lion fans.

[froot loops]

The Rams did what most teams should do in their situation. They had a transcendent defensive player nearing the end of with some other great players so they threw the kitchen sink in to try and win a title. It worked but there was a huge confirmation bias in fuck those picks and that manifested itself in last year's disasterous off season. They kind of fucked themselves over with their signings (Robinson in particular) and kept on trying to trade the picks during the season when it was clear the season was lost.

You can't continue to trade picks and eventually the salary cap bill comes due. That's where they are at right now, they are stuck. It's kind of like there can be two paths you take, the other path is the Patriot Way, where you are getting rid of players one year early instead of on year late, but they also had Brady.

[wcfwtf]

Stafford is no Brady

[Futureshock]

Matthew Stafford contract eventually will wreak havoc on Rams’ salary cap

Posted by Mike Florio on March 10, 2023, 12:02 PM EST

Getty Images

There’s an important reason why the Rams have pivoted from “fuck them picks” to “pluck them picks.” They need a broad nucleus of young, cheap talent to offset the salary-cap disasters looming on their roster.

There’s no bigger coming cap mess than the one associated with quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Although Stafford has a manageable cap figure of $20 million in 2023, trading him would have sparked a $48 million dead-money charge for 2023. Which is reason alone for Stafford to not be traded now.

Next year, the Stafford cap number spikes to $49.5 million. A trade before June 1 would trigger a $55.5 million cap hit.

And, sure, the Rams could (and probably would) restructure Stafford’s $31 million salary for 2024. Still, at some point they’ll be taking a massive cap charge for the $61.5 million he received last year, while carrying a 2022 cap charge of only $13.5 million.

By 2025, Stafford’s cap number will be $50.5 million. He’ll be 37 that year. But it would still cost $37 million in dead money to trade him before June 1.

That’s only two years away. And he’s only been on the team two years. When considering everything they gave up to get him (Jared Goff, two first-round picks, and a third-round pick), it’s hard not to wonder whether it was worth it.

Sure, they won a Super Bowl with Stafford. But that likely will be the only one. And they could end up swirling in a purgatory that may not end for a while.

[froot loops]

He is not Tom Brady, nobody is, but he is definitely a Super Bowl Champion.

[Futureshock]

Report: Rams to release Leonard Floyd on Friday

Posted by Myles Simmons on March 10, 2023, 2:26 PM EST

Getty Images

The Rams made it known earlier this week that they planned to release edge rusher Leonard Floyd if they didn’t find a trade partner.

It looks like no one expressed enough interest.

Los Angeles is planning to release Floyd on Friday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Floyd signed with the Rams on a one-year deal in 2020 and recorded 10.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and 19 quarterback hits in 16 games. He then posted 9.5 sacks in 2021 and 9.0 sacks in 2022, playing all 17 games in each of the last two seasons. In Los Angeles’ championship run in the 2021 postseason, Floyd had 2.0 sacks and two tackles for loss in four games.

The Rams would incur a $19 million cap hit in dead money by releasing him with $3 million in cap savings. But if Los Angeles used a post-June 1 designation, they’ll save $15.5 million in cap space with a $6.5 million dead cap hit in 2023.

After winning Super Bowl LVI to cap the 2021 season, the Rams went 5-12 in 2022. Releasing Floyd is just one of what’s likely to be string of moves that could include trading defensive back Jalen Ramsey.

But G.M. Les Snead said on Thursday that quarterback Matthew Stafford, receiver Cooper Kupp, and defensive tackle Aaron Donald won’t be moved.

[JGSpartan]

There aren't any cap benefits to moving Stafford. This is sports media doing what it does and creating its own rumors.

[Fraquar]

Lol, what they are telling you is it is impossible to move him.
Those cap hit are astronomical. Yet people here were telling us the Rams got him on the cheap......
That team was a defense first team and it's imploding it's defense.
Stafford is likely to be stuck in purgatory even worse than his Lions years to see out the remainder of his career.
Ask any player though and they'd tell you they sell their soul to the Devil to be able to hoist a Lombardi trophy.