The Rams took an interesting tack in their offseason standoff with quarterback Matthew Stafford this week, as NFL insider Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported that the team has given permission to Stafford and his agent to find out what other teams might be willing to pay him if they acquired him in a trade.
Essentially, the Rams are letting the market dictate the value of a player who is under contract for two years and more than $100 million, but on whom the Rams have an opt-out clause this offseason. The Rams want to give Stafford a new deal, but they want it to be cheaper.
While that puts some pressure on Stafford to find out what he’s worth, the Rams also have to weigh the possibility that the move could backfire–that a team would be willing to pay Stafford a contract too rich for the Rams.
Then, they’d need a Plan B.
According to Pelissero, the top option for Plan B would be Kirk Cousins of the Falcons, who is entering the second year of a four year, $180 million contract, but who has already lost his starting job to Michael Penix Jr.
Here’s how Pelissero explained it: “The most inexpensive option that’s not yet available, one we haven’t mentioned, would be Kirk Cousins, who’s got a foundation in that offense, knows Sean McVay. If the Falcons eventually release him, which, to this point, they’ve indicated they will not—they have got decisions to make in the coming months.
“I don’t know that having Kirk Cousins making $27.5 million next year is backup to Michael Penix Jr., and having him breathing over his shoulder all the time, is necessarily going to be a situation the Falcons want to embrace. But are the Falcons waiting to try to get a trade? They would need Kirk Cousins’ cooperation on that.”
Most likely, the Falcons will have to eat a year of dead cap on Cousins and release him outright, meaning he’d be getting paid for 2025 but could sign a minimum deal elsewhere, as Russell Wilson did after leaving Denver and signing with Pittsburgh last year.
“That would be a situation where you could potentially get him on the minimum,” Pelissero said. “And you could spend that all that additional money—let’s call it $40 million for Matthew Stafford—you could spend the other $39 million on other players to try to bolster a really talented young Rams team.”