Turf Show Times
The longer that the Los Angeles Rams are without Matthew Stafford, the more there will be speculation in the media that they should make a trade for a quarterback. This is a team on the cusp of a Super Bowl and losing a year because the starting quarterback is hurt would be a tough pill to swallow.
It’s a problem the Rams haven’t had to face in quite some time. While they weren’t Super Bowl contenders, some would have considered the Rams playoff contenders in 2013 and 2014 when Sam Bradford tore his ACL. In those years, they ended up having to rely on Kellen Clemens, Shaun Hill, and Austin Davis. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Rams handled it the same way and relied on Jimmy Garoppolo if they had to.
Still, given how active the Rams have been on the trade market in recent years, they are always going to get brought up. However, at this point in the offseason, finding a quarterback isn’t easy. That ship has mostly sailed. There may be some that bring up players like Daniel Jones or Zach Wilson who have the tools and are young enough to be developed into ‘the next guy’ if needed. However, the quarterback that will likely get connected to the Rams the most is Kirk Cousins.
The connection for Cousins to the Rams is obvious. Cousins got his first full season as the starter in 2015 with McVay as the offensive coordinator and then threw for 4,900 yards with 25 touchdown passes in 2016. To put it simply, Cousins was a McVay guy. Over the last three seasons, Cousins has played in the same offense with Kevin O’Connell in 2022 and 2023 and then Zac Robinson last year. Both O’Connell and Robinson are former Rams offensive coaches and McVay disciples.
Let’s say that the Rams are able to make it work financially. It’s naive to say that it doesn’t make sense to some extent. At the same time, at this point in Cousins’ career, it’s fair to question whether he offers much more than Garoppolo. In the NFL, there are a few different types of quarterbacks. There are the quarterbacks that teams win with, quarterbacks teams win because of, and quarterbacks teams win in spite of. Both Cousins and Garoppolo likely fit in the “quarterbacks you win with” category. They’re the same guy. Both can keep the offense on track, but they are likely to make back-breaking decisions in big moments.
Even if Cousins is better, the question needs to be asked, how much better? Is that gap worth taking on a chunk of Cousins’ contract and giving up draft capital? The answer there is likely no. This is also a quarterback with an Achilles injury history who, combined with an elbow issue last year, lost much of his throwing power.
It’s fair to say that Cousins got more comfortable driving off of his right leg after the first few weeks. There was a stretch in...
