How will Rams replace Matthew Stafford if this is his last season?

As rest of team gets better, Matthew Stafford is getting worse

Matthew Stafford is having a similar season to the dire situation that was 2022, but there might not be a rebound this time. If the Rams have to part ways with Stafford next year, when he could be the oldest remaining starter in the league, their options to replace him will be limited and Sean McVay’s patience for developing a quarterback could finally be tested.

What will the Rams do if this is Stafford’s final season in L.A.?

Draft

At the current rate, the Rams will not get a great draft pick. At 4-5, the Rams are currently slated to pick 16th.

Any hopes of getting a quarterback like Shedeur Sanders (and I’m sure his dad would love to see him in the Los Angeles market if he can get him there), would require Les Snead to trade multiple first round picks to move up for him. Is Sanders worth three first round picks?

At this stage of his college career, few would agree that he is, but the same might have been said about Jared Goff nine years ago.

The 2024 draft had a record six quarterbacks drafted in the top-12, but this class isn’t expected to have that many first round options, let alone in the top-12. So if the Rams do not get Sanders or Cam Ward, there will be a lot of debate about whether the pick is worth it on day one.

That was the case for the Broncos taking Bo Nix at 12 but Denver is at least in the playoff race and Nix is out-playing number one pick Caleb Williams so far.

It’s just not likely that the Rams will be picking early enough to draft Sanders or Ward unless they lose the rest of their games or trade up.

Trade

The Rams opened the door for high-profile QB trades three years ago when they swapped Goff for Stafford, but efforts to copy their Super Bowl success have been unsuccessful:

• 2022: Russell Wilson traded to Broncos
• 2022: Deshaun Watson traded to Browns
• 2023: Aaron Rodgers traded to Jets

If there is any notable quarterback on the trade market in 2025, it is probably because he is a draft bust: The names Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson are atop that list, with Will Levis not far behind. As far as anyone knows, there won’t be any good veterans available like with Stafford in 2021, so it could come down to how much McVay trusts himself to coach up Bryce Young or AR-15 into good veterans.

He’s had success with former number one picks — and only former number one picks — so could Young be next?

Free Agency

The best quarterback to hit the free agent market will be Sam Darnold and he’s also probably McVay’s best bet of anyone who isn’t Matthew Stafford: Darnold is having his best career season while playing for Kevin O’Connell, but the Vikings might want to give J.J. McCarthy his shot next year and part ways with Darnold.

But is Sam Darnold actually a good football player or did he just get linked up with Justin Jefferson?

Darnold has 5 interceptions in the last 2 games and the Vikings are 7-2 because of their defense. Signing Darnold to anything longer than a one-year contract could be a huge risk and that’s assuming he has even kept his job through the entire season. We saw players like Josh Dobbs have short-term success under O’Connell and now he’s a backup who replaced Darnold in San Francisco.

Russell Wilson and Justin Fields will also be free agents.

As it looks, the Steelers will do everything in their power to keep Wilson (and they said as much after signing him, not just after his recent success) and they probably also want to keep Fields if he agrees that he’s a backup who needs a lot of refinement and help. If Fields sees himself as a starter, he may go out there to seek a competition.

Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Jacoby Brissett, Drew Lock, Joe Flacco, Mac Jones, Carson Wentz, Cooper Rush, Andy Dalton, and Jameis Winston are also free agents.

So as you can see, the list of free agent options is short and unappealing.

Stay the Course

Another free agent is Jimmy Garoppolo.

The Rams could choose to keep Stafford (if he wants to stay and not retire) and re-sign Garoppolo and hope for the best if the offensive line is healthy and working better together in 2025. The team still has Puka Nacua guaranteed to be in L.A. next year (but not Cooper Kupp) and McVay knows what he’s getting with Stafford.

But Stafford isn’t the same quarterback who won the Super Bowl.

Since winning the Super Bowl, the Rams are 16-18 when Stafford starts. He’s thrown 45 touchdowns and 26 interceptions, which is a little more than 1 touchdown and a little less than 1 interception per game.

The offensive line has let the Rams down, the receivers have been injured, but this offense still isn’t good enough — not nearly good enough — to win multiple playoff games. The Rams red zone nightmares continued on Monday and L.A. is 30th in red zone offense.

They’re also 25th in third down conversions and 31st in yards per carry.

Staying the course doesn’t seem like a good option either and could mean that Garoppolo, not Stafford, is L.A.’s 2025 starting quarterback.

What do the Rams do?

Drafting Jared Verse has been the best possible outcome for the Rams, but there will be some question of whether or not the team missed its opportunity to get a replacement for Stafford. Drafting Stetson Bennett was a shot, but it was also a shot in the dark and they missed.

Sometimes answers — like Brock Purdy — show up where you least expect. So the Rams aren’t dead in the water, but time is running out to know what to do next and there are few obvious ways out of this in the near future.