Should Rams consider this quarterback as heir to Matthew Stafford?

Should the Rams be interested in JJ McCarthy in offseason?

One of the questions that the Los Angeles Rams will have to answer this offseason is whether or not they put a succession plan in place for quarterback Matthew Stafford. Stafford has shown flashes of elite play this season but has lacked sharpness, particularly over the last three weeks.

The Rams quarterback is expected to sit on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. That would put his season totals at 3,762 yards to go with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions. That’s nearly 30 yards per game fewer than last year and four fewer touchdowns. In fact, half of Stafford’s touchdowns this season came over a four-week span. Since his elite performance against the Bills, Stafford has thrown a single touchdown pass.

This isn’t to say that Stafford shouldn’t be the Rams quarterback heading into next season. He is very clearly the best quarterback to help the Rams win now and capitalize on the end of their current window. With that said, the Rams also need to start thinking about life after Stafford and those are conversations that will happen this offseason. Stafford took his contract discussions all the way up until training camp last year and neither side got a long-term resolution. The Rams put a band-aid on the issue.

Essentially, the Rams signed Stafford to a one-year, $40M deal and removed the quarterback’s 2025 guarantees. It was set up that way to discuss a new contract this upcoming offseason. The Rams didn’t want to give Stafford an extension last offseason and it will be interesting to see how much they have budged from that since then. Stafford could be looking for a three-year deal while the Rams may not want to commit further than one or two years ahead.

At the end of the day, Stafford is 36 years old and will be 37 in February. The Rams will likely try to milk everything they can out of Stafford, but this is a front office that also won’t be afraid to move on when the time is right. Between now and then, it also would not be a surprise if they try to find a young quarterback to develop behind him to play the role of a bridge quarterback or heir apparent.

Taking a quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft would make sense. However, the 2025 quarterback class also isn’t very good or very deep. Cam Ward may be the most talented quarterback at the top while Shedeur Sanders is also in that conversation. Behind them are quarterbacks with limited upside.

Over the past two years, it’s been clear that Stetson Bennett is probably not going to be that guy. With nobody on the roster showing potential as the future behind Stafford and a limited quarterback class, it makes addressing the future behind Stafford that much more difficult. The best option may be looking for a castaway with upside. One of those possible options could be Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy. ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted this week,

“In a limited quarterback draft class, where there are far more teams that need quarterbacks than quarterbacks who actually can step in right away, I definitely think teams will be checking in with the Vikings to see if they have any interest in trading J.J. McCarthy…I think teams will explore that option…If the Vikings decide that they wanted to trade him, which I don’t know that they will, I believe they would get back everything they put into him and then some. It would be a first and then some.”

There are several reasons why a player like McCarthy makes a lot of sense. The Vikings have been in this situation before back in 2017. Case Keenum led them to the NFC Championship game and it was the following offseason that they turned to Kirk Cousins. Cousins led the Vikings to two playoff wins over six years. While the Vikings drafted McCarthy just last year, they could not have expected Sam Darnold to play as well as he has.

If they opt to go with McCarthy, it’s an unknown versus a quarterback in Darnold that they have seen have success within the offense. Going into year two and just 22 years old, McCarthy will still have good value. If the Vikings like Darnold, they could opt to capitalize on McCarthy’s value in a weak quarterback class.

At the same time, McCarthy would fit the Rams’ timeline. If Stafford plays just for 2025 or even through 2026, the Rams would still have anywhere from 1-3 years of control over McCarthy with the rookie fifth-year option and he’d still just be 23-24 years old. Additionally, it wouldn’t be as if McCarthy would be going to a different offensive ecosystem and have to learn a new scheme.

McCarthy spent his rookie year learning under Kevin O’Connell who was the former Rams offensive coordinator and runs a variation of the McVay-Shanahan scheme. In a sense, McCarthy would already be familiar in the offense. The relationship between O’Connell and McVay could benefit the Rams in trade discussions as well. They have worked together before in trade negotiations, notably in the Cam Akers trade.

Where this doesn’t make sense is the potential asking price. It was hard to see the Rams taking a quarterback in the first round in the 2025 draft given other needs on the roster. With that being the case, it’s unlikely that the Rams would give up one first round pick, let alone more on top of that for an unknown commodity.

McCarthy still has value, but the Rams would likely be looking more at a potential day two pick which would be slightly higher than the fourth round pick that the Eagles gave up for Kenny Pickett or the Cowboys gave up for Trey Lance. McCarthy may be seen as more talented than the quarterbacks in the 2025 draft class.

Still, like a new car driving off the lot, once a player is drafted, their value typically decreases. That’s especially the case if the car has since had to be repaired. In this case, McCarthy will be coming off of a torn right meniscus.

It will be interesting to see how the Rams address the quarterback position this offseason. Jimmy Garoppolo’s contract is set to expire and Bennett will be in year three. With Stafford getting older, it may be time to start considering a potential heir and McCarthy would be a good fit.