Matthew Stafford Staying With Rams, So Giants Eye Aaron Rodgers, While Raiders Seek Other Options

INDIANAPOLIS – Well, that was much ado about nothing, as Matthew Stafford – the talk of the NFL Scouting Combine the entire week – is staying with the Los Angeles Rams.

Stafford and the Rams are finalizing a new agreement that will keep him in Southern California.

Stafford Wanted Rams All Along

It wasn't entirely easy.

The Rams initially weren't sure they wanted to commit multiple years at significant money – anywhere from $45 to $50 million per season – to a 37-year-old quarterback, regardless of the fact Stafford has been a good player.

Stafford saw that as something of an insult. So he met with the Las Vegas Raiders, who were represented in the meeting by minority owner Tom Brady. And his representation met with the New York Giants.

A source told OutKick that both the Raiders and Giants offered significant contracts to convince Stafford to be traded to their teams. Both teams were willing to also work out trade parameters with the Rams.

But Stafford, who didn't really want to leave the Rams to begin with, ultimately chose to take less money to stay with the Rams. 

That keeps Stafford from having to relocate his family and having to spend the entire summer learning a new offensive system, with new teammates and new coaches.

Rams Set, Giants and Raiders Not

So the Rams are set at quarterback.

But what does that mean for the Giants and Raiders?

Well, the whispers the entire week in Indianapolis have been that the fallback position for the Giants is, get this, Aaron Rodgers. 

Aaron Rodgers!

The New York Jets are releasing Rodgers this offseason, they've announced, and that might put the crosstown Giants in position to simply sign him – for much cheaper than they would have gotten Stafford.

Aaron Rodgers acknowledges that the New York Jets may just be cursed. David Butler II-Imagn Images

Giants Love Rodgers Durability 

And it would mean Rodgers doesn't even have to sell his new house in New Jersey and move.

Rodgers, 41, had a solid, not good (particularly by his standards) season with the Jets in 2024. He threw 28 TD passes and 11 interceptions.

But the most impressive issue for the Giants is that Rodgers played all 17 games for the Jets in a season when he was coming back from an Achilles injury.

The Giants believe they have a pretty solid team were it not for the fact their quarterbacks cannot stay upright and healthy.

"I think it's the most important position in football," Giants general manager Joe Schoen said. "We have one on our roster right now, and I think that's important wherever we address it that the play has to be better than what it's been.

"Because of injuries, we played four quarterbacks this year. We played three last year. So it would be nice to have one guy out there that can help you, give you the best chance to win games and also stay healthy.  Again, yeah, that is an important position, and we need better play out of that position than what we've had, and that will help us."

Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Raiders Could Bring In Multiple QBs

It's harder to gauge what pivot the Raiders will make to find a quarterback.

They are in position to draft perhaps Shedeur Sanders. Sanders and Brady have struck up something of a relationship and, because Brady has so much juice in the organization now, anyone he likes cannot be dismissed.

"Tom Brady, he's an all-time great," Sanders said Friday. "Being able to have that resource, being able to have that person I'm able to talk to and call whenever I'm having questions about the game, and he's able to relate to it because he did it at the highest level. It's truly amazing. I'm thankful for that."

But, surely, the Raiders aren't going to put the entire hopes of their franchise on the bet they might draft Sanders – or that he'll even be available when they pick.

So they will try to identify and add a veteran.

Who?

Kirk Cousins?

Sam Darnold?

Justin Fields?

Russell Wilson, in a reunion with former coach Pete Carroll?

"The quarterback position is going to be highly competitive," Carroll said this week. "If you look back at when we started in Seattle and how we built the competition to find the proper guy that would take over in that job, that was a very intricate, elaborate process. 

"When we saw Russell Wilson run the competition, it was because it was a wide-open competition. It was very well designed and organized, and it worked out fine. However this goes, our guys are all going to take a shot at it. We've got guys on the roster right now that are fighting their tails off to see if they can win that position."