INDIANAPOLIS — Matters continue to escalate between Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and his top two potential trade suitors, the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders, according to league sources.
Each team has outlined to Stafford what their contract offers would be, if Stafford were to be traded, league sources said. The Giants and Raiders discussed two-year deals that included between $90 million and $100 million guaranteed, and they’re expecting a resolution soon; Stafford is set to meet with the Rams in Los Angeles on Friday.
The Rams and Stafford are still open to working out a deal for him to remain in L.A; the two sides have stayed in close communication on the matter.
Earlier this month, the Rams granted Stafford’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, permission to discuss contract terms with other teams, according to league sources, a process that has continued into this week’s NFL Scouting Combine.
The Giants met with Sexton on Tuesday, a league source said. New York does not currently have a quarterback on its roster, though it is expected to retain exclusive rights free agent Tommy DeVito. The Giants, who own the No. 3 pick in the 2025 draft, have made it clear throughout the offseason that they will add a veteran QB regardless of whether they target a passer in April’s draft.
Their top target thus far has been Stafford, though when asked publicly about him by reporters earlier this week, general manager Joe Schoen deferred to the Rams.
The Raiders are also well in the mix for Stafford, according to league sources. They have the second-most cap space in the NFL and hold the No. 6 pick in the draft, so they have the resources to compete with whatever the Giants are willing to offer.
Wednesday, team and league sources confirmed that Stafford and Raiders minority owner Tom Brady had an unplanned conversation at a ski resort in Montana. It is not known what was discussed.
There are members of the Raiders’ offensive coaching staff who prefer adding a proven veteran quarterback to taking a dice roll on a rookie quarterback, according to league sources. The 2025 draft class isn’t perceived to be deep at quarterback, and there’s a chance that the only options worth drafting in the first round will be gone by the time the Raiders are on the clock.
If the Raiders don’t land Stafford, it’s unlikely that they’ll make a large financial commitment to another veteran quarterback who’s expected to be available this offseason, according to league sources. Las Vegas has three quarterbacks on its roster — Aidan O’Connell, Gardner Minshew and Carter Bradley — but none of them have proven themselves to be a viable starter. Minshew will likely be released this offseason, so they’ll still need to make some sort of addition to the room.
While first-year general manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll declined to specifically discuss Stafford when they met with the media this week, they made it clear they planned to be aggressive when addressing the position this offseason.
“There’s no timeline that we’re going to try to do something good somewhere down the road so we can feel OK about ourselves,” Carroll said. “We’re going for it.”
The Rams’ preference is to stay year-to-year on a prospective deal for Stafford, league sources said. Typically, they have averaged an annual salary of $40 million to $45 million for Stafford, who signed an extension with the team in the spring of 2022 after leading the Rams to a Super Bowl win.
That money ranks at about the middle of the league this year at the position, while Stafford has largely produced like a top-10 quarterback during his tenure with the Rams. However, as Over the Cap initially noted, his cash salary currently ranks No. 7 since signing the extension into 2025 at $152 million.
Stafford has just $4 million in guaranteed money currently owed in 2025, though, after the Rams frontloaded his previous guarantees into his 2024 salary year — a Band-Aid for last year’s contract dispute that stretched into the first day of training camp. In adjusting his contract in this way, both the team and Stafford were clear with each other that the discussion would be revisited in 2025. His 2025 cap number is $49.7 million. Playing on the contract as it currently exists is not an option.
Meanwhile, Rams head coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead were initially expected to address local reporters via video conference this week, as per their usual routine during the combine (they have not attended since 2020). That has now been pushed back to an unspecified day and time.
If the Rams do move on from Stafford, last year’s backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and soon-to-be-released Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers are both options to start for L.A. in 2025. Garoppolo, who played just one game for the Rams in 2024 as they rested starters in Week 18, is familiar with McVay’s offense and is well-liked within the building.
The Rams were previously interested in Rodgers ahead of their initial trade for Stafford in 2021, when Rodgers was in his own contract dispute with the Green Bay Packers, league sources said at that time. Recently, they hired Alex Van Pelt — one of Rodgers’ previous offensive coordinators — as a senior offensive assistant.
(Photo: Mike Lawrence / Getty Images)
