Were the Rams really going to trade Matthew Stafford?
Last season, the Los Angeles Rams were without their franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford for almost half the season. Come to find out, Los Angeles almost moved Stafford this offseason, but why?
Stafford has been that guy in Los Angeles for two years now after being traded from Detroit. But injuries have slowly hurt the 35-year-old’s career, including last season. The former No. 1 overall pick suffered two injuries last season — a grade 1 concussion on Nov. 6 and a spinal cord bruise only two weeks later — which kept him out for several games.
After that, trade talks began to rise and questions loomed. Would it be best if Stafford was traded away from the Rams? Rams COO Kevin Demoff has those answers.
Demoff appeared on the 11 Personnel podcast and reviewed that “casual conversations” surrounding the Rams’ franchise quarterback.
“Those conversations frustrated me because I think it’s trying to inject narratives that aren’t there,” Demoff said, via USA Today. “I know there are reports that we tried to trade Matthew. We were not actively trying to trade Matthew. I know Les has rebuffed that before. It’s just not the case. I think if you wanted to be in the reality of the NFL, there are 10 teams this year, at least, that are going to have different quarterbacks. We were obviously aggressive in remaking our roster in March. It would be naive to think that people didn’t inquire about what was going to happen with the player who the year before won the Super Bowl. It’s different than whether people inquire, whether there are casual conversations.”
Keep in mind, Stafford and Los Angeles won the Super Bowl two seasons ago. Obviously he is getting old, but he still has a lot of life in him. He may not be the player he was back in 2011, but you certainly can’t move on just yet.
Stafford has little value right now. Los Angeles would just be restarting their team at that point. If you’re going to trade him, ship away the rest of your pieces and blow it up, don’t sit and dwell in mediocrity.
“He is a pillar, we value him highly,” Demoff said of Stafford. “Now, again, if someone did come in offering a ridiculous trade package, I think you owe it to your organization to listen the same way you would anyone. I think Les said people called about nine players during the offseason. That’s grown probably since that time.”
No further trade talks have come up between Los Angeles and Stafford just yet, but anything can happen in the NFL.
Should the Los Angeles Rams trade their franchise quarterback and go full rebuild mode? Let us know down in the comments below.
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