ClutchPoints
After coming a few completions away from hosting the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship game, the Los Angeles Rams are coming dangerously close to blowing things up in a major way heading into 2025, with Cooper Kupp expected to leave the team one way or another, and Matthew Stafford given permission to talk to other teams about trades and contracts.
On paper, this decision makes some sense, as after retooling their defense on the fly in a major way, the Rams clearly don’t want to find themselves in a similar situation to their former defensive coordinator Raheem Morris in Atlanta, stuck with an old, unplayable quarterback long-term. With that being said, plenty of talent evaluators from around the NFL feel like such a massive swing would be a pretty big mistake, as the Rams really could still be in the Super Bowl conversation both now and in the short-term future.
Need proof? Well, look no further than Colin Cowherd, who used some time on his The Herd show on FS1 to boldly declare that Stafford should stick it out in LA while the Rams remain firmly in the “Super Bowl bubble.”
“Matt, you’ve made a lot of money. You’ve made $360 million. If you sign $40 million for two years, you end up making close to $450 million, and you get a Super Bowl—and I’m serious here—Rams for the next two years with Stafford are in the Super Bowl bubble, and I’m not sure how far they are off. You go to that game against Philadelphia, more yards, more first downs, they held Jalen Hurts to about 65 yards passing. Remember that big completion down the sidelines Matt made to Puka? We were sitting there going, ‘Wait a minute, are they actually going to steal this game? They hadn’t even played well!” Cowherd declared via SI.
“For Stafford to leave that, I think would be a huge, huge mistake.”
Are the Rams a perfect team heading into 2025? No. While their defense is young and ascending, they have players all over their offense who could be on the way out this offseason, from wide receivers like Kupp, Tutu Atwell, and Demarcus Robinson to offensive linemen like Alaric Jackson and Rob Havenstein. If the Rams lose some of these key players, then yeah, maybe Stafford would be wise to consider a better landing spot, but is that really available to the veteran passer? Do the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New York Giants, or the Cleveland Browns really have a better supporting cast, front office, and head coach than the Rams?
For better or worse, the Rams have to take things by year while they have one of the oldest starting quarterbacks in the NFL under center, but while Stafford is still playing well, they can still win, which is why Los Angeles would be foolish to throw that away in favor of a forced rebuild. Draft a new quarterback in round three, trade for Will Levis, but keep Stafford around at...
