It’s a story that’s made various rounds on social media in a variety of different ways: The Las Vegas Raiders have legitimate interest in acquiring Matthew Stafford from the Los Angeles Rams. Although some reports have been conflicting–one NFL insider notes Tom Brady and Stafford spent the weekend at Brady’s place in Montana discussing the potential move while another NFL insider states the two happened to ran into each other and nothing more–the bottom line is the same; the Raiders are throwing their name into the Matthew Stafford sweepstakes.
Such a development sparks the question, is trading for Stafford in Sin City’s best interest moving forward?
As is the case with virtually all acquisitions around the National Football League, acquiring Stafford comes with its fair share of both positives and negatives. Additional variables contribute to the amount of sense an addition makes, such as considering the assets–both trade capital and money spent–to acquire the player, how that player fits into what the team has going on, and what other players at the position were also available.
When it comes to [potentially] trading for Stafford, those are the things Raiders general manager John Spytek will consider. We at The Raider Ramble will as well.
Matthew Stafford and the Las Vegas Raiders: The good, the bad, and the updates.
The updates
No one was able to beat Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer to the punch, who was the first to report Las Vegas’ confirmed interest in the Rams’ signal caller. On Monday, Breer name-dropped the Raiders as one team that’s already inquired about Stafford.
However, it was never clarified whether Sin City’s interest was that of due diligence or a genuine want to pursue the 37-year-old quarterback. Wednesday gave the NFL-world a more detailed explanation.
Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz reported that Raiders’ minority owner Tom Brady and Stafford spent the weekend together at Brady’s place in Montana, on a ski resort, where the two discussed a world where Stafford becomes QB1 of Las Vegas’ football team.
NFL Network insiders Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport went on to dispute this, noting that the two were together this weekend for a brief period, but it was nothing but coincidence and not a business meeting, as per Brady’s long-time agent Don Yee.
Whatever the case, the end result is the same: Brady and Stafford ran into each other at some point this past week, and one can only imagine suiting up for the Raiders was discussed.
It may be of importance to note this has happened once before with Stafford. As a member of the Detroit Lions who wished to move onto the next chapter of his career, Stafford ran into Rams’ head coach Sean McVay in Cabo San Lucas. The two lightheartedly spoke about Stafford playing in Los Angeles, and before the NFL-world knew it, Stafford did indeed become the next starting quarterback of the Rams.
The situation then is almost an exact replica of the one happening now.
Acquiring Matthew Stafford – The good
In truth, there’s really no need to go into great detail here. Las Vegas needs a quarterback–a veteran one at that, to maximize their chances of winning immediately. Who better fits the bill than Super Bowl LVI victor Matthew Stafford?
For the better part of the last 15 years, Stafford has floated around the top-10 rankings at the quarterback position, oftentimes coming closer to five than 10. That includes the present day. For a team that’s in desperate need of a signal caller such as the Raiders, the proposition of adding one of Stafford’s caliber is nothing short of dreamy.
That’s especially true in the eyes of Pete Carroll. Not only does Carroll wish to pile up wins immediately, but at 73 years of age, the legendary head coach is coming up on his last chance to add another Super Bowl victory to his resume.
Stafford gives Carroll and the Raiders the best chance of making that happen.
Even at the age of 36, Stafford was able to piece together a 20-touchdown, 8-interception campaign. His 3,762 passing yards ranked 13th-most league-wide while his 93.7 quarterback rating stood 15th-highest.
Most impressively, Stafford was able to do this without star receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua throughout multiple weeks in the season.
Once the playoffs came around, the 37-year-old was at his best. Stafford led his team to a playoff win over the 14-3 Minnesota Vikings, tossing two touchdowns while completing over 70% of his pass attempts.
The Rams were almost able to take down the eventual Super Bowl winning Eagles, too, although Philadelphia ultimately inched out a 28-22 win.
Stafford’s decline – The bad
While a 20-touchdown, 8-interception campaign is good enough to elevate a team into the NFL postseason, as Stafford proved in 2024, it’s a step down from his typical level of production. In fact, his past three years have pointed to a steady decline in his game, although the film still shows he’s liable to break out a vintage Matthew Stafford pass when needed.
After winning the Super Bowl in 2021, the ’22 season was a disaster for Stafford and the Rams. Los Angeles posted a record of 3-9 under their QB1 with the former first-overall pick throwing only 10 touchdowns alongside eight interceptions. His 231.9 yards per contest remain a career-low from 2011 onward.
2023 and 2024 welcomed more seasons that weren’t successes for a quarterback of Stafford’s caliber. During his ’23 campaign, the two-time Pro Bowl quarterback totaled 24 passing touchdowns and 11 interceptions, completing 62.6% of his passes; his lowest mark since 2014. This past season, Stafford finished with 20 passing touchdowns, totaling 3,762 yards through the air.
For reference, Stafford’s past three seasons mark the first time he’s went three-straight campaigns without hitting 4,000 passing yards. This stretch also marks the first time in his career he’s gone three-straight campaigns with under 25 touchdowns through the air.
And while Stafford only appeared in nine contests during the ’22 season, he was on pace to notch the lowest yardage and touchdown total he’s posted since 2010.
Stafford is on a clear decline, and being 37 years of age, it’s hard to see that trend changing. That said, we are still talking about a quarterback who’s plenty efficient and shows up when it matters most–for the time being, at least.
Does Matthew Stafford to the Las Vegas Raiders make sense?
Well, other than Stafford giving the Raiders their best chance to win now, and Carroll his best chance to earn another Super Bowl victory in the next handful of years, no, this isn’t a pairing that makes too much sense.
The timelines simply don’t line up. Sin City’s roster as a whole isn’t ready for a quarterback to step in and immediately lift the team to contention. They’ll need to keep relying on the annual draft to add cornerstone talent, potentially taking another two or three years until there’s enough star-power on the team to legitimately fight for a Super Bowl title.
By that time, Stafford will be upwards of 39, potentially 40 years of age. This is already a quarterback on the decline–let alone multiple years out.
Sure, Los Angeles was able to go toe-to-toe with the eventual Super Bowl winning Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round of the playoffs, but the Raiders are not the Rams. That’s because the Rams have two All-Pro receivers, an All-Pro running back, an offensive line that ranked 14th-best via Pro Football Focus’ final O-line rankings despite four-of-five starters missing time, and an unquestioned top-three coach in the National Football League to tie it all together.
To be blunt, the two teams are simply incomparable.
Beyond all of the above, the Raiders are going to have to give up [presumably premium] assets just to acquire Stafford. The Rams organization isn’t going to simply give Stafford away out of the kindness of their heart. In fact, the team has reportedly been eyeing a first-round selection in exchange for their starting signal caller.
A first-round selection is always difficult to part with, let alone when a team giving one up needs to keep adding talent to their team that isn’t quite ready to contend yet.
In the end..
..it doesn’t even matter, as Linkin Park once said. And that very well may be true here as the Rams working things out with Stafford is a notion that gained serious momentum on Thursday afternoon.
As things stand, it continues to seem more and more likely that Stafford will start the 2025 NFL season as a member of Sean McVay’s club once more.
If a trade with the Raiders does happen, however, remember the pros and cons.
On top of the cons and others concerns already discussed, giving up quality assets for a 37-year-old quarterback in addition to an increase in pay – something Stafford is seeking – may easily come back to bite the Raiders in the near future as they look to continue adding talent to the roster.
However, if Las Vegas believes in their heart of hearts that there’s a chance they can lift the Lombardi Trophy under Stafford within the next three years or so, such a trade is well-worth the assets being given up, as well as the cash being spent to appease the Super Bowl champion quarterback.
As is, if Stafford joins Sin City’s football team, key free agents such as Robert Spillane and Tre’von Moehrig are retained, and the 2025 NFL Draft welcomes quality talent, the Raiders may very well field their best overall roster in over two decades. That’s what they’ll have to do to have to do in order to have any success whatsoever in an AFC West division that saw three-of-four teams make the postseason this past January.
*Top Photo: Trib Live
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