Rams Trade Pitch Replaces Matthew Stafford With Former Top-5 Pick

Despite missing his top two receivers, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford gutted out a 27-24 comeback win over the rival San Francisco 49ers in Week 3.

Now in his 16th NFL season at the age of 36, fan and media rumblings about Stafford’s long-term playing future continue to circulate.

This week, Bleacher Report listed a potential contingency plan for the Rams in its “2024 NFL Trade Block Big Board Entering Week 4.”

According to NFL analyst Kristopher Knox, Sean McVay and company are potential trade suitors for Denver Broncos backup quarterback Zach Wilson.

“The Rams could also consider Wilson as part of a succession plan behind Matthew Stafford,” Knox wrote. “While Stafford is still playing at an elite level, he’s also 36 years old. Not every quarterback wants to play well into their 40s.” The former No. 2 overall pick of the 2021 NFL draft is currently sitting behind Denver’s prized rookie Bo Nix and veteran Jarrett Stidham on the depth chart. As such, the 25-year-old “should be viewed as expendable if the right offer crosses the desk of general manager George Paton,” according to Knox.

After a disappointing three-year stint with the New York Jets in which the team went 12-21 in his 33 starts, Wilson was traded to Denver in April for a late-round draft pick swap.

After a disappointing three-year stint with the New York Jets in which the team went 12-21 in his 33 starts, Wilson was traded to Denver in April for a late-round draft pick swap. A hypothetical trade for Wilson – which remains an unlikely scenario – would almost certainly force a corresponding move by the Rams given their current backup signal-callers. Behind Stafford are 11th-year veteran Jimmy Garoppolo and 2023 fourth-round pick Stetson Bennett.

Garoppolo is set to become a free agent after the 2024 season, while Bennett’s rookie contract runs through 2026, according to Spotrac.

Stafford, who signed a four-year, $160 million extension in March 2022, remains under team control for two more full seasons – through the end of 2026 – unless he retires early or if Los Angeles were to cut or trade him and accept a sizeable dead cap hit.