Unless Matthew Stafford retires after this season, he’s almost certainly going to be the Rams’ starting quarterback in 2024. If they cut him next offseason, they’ll take on $86.5 million in dead money or $55.5 million if he’s traded. Not really feasible either way.
If he does retire, the Rams will be left in a tough spot, searching for their next starting quarterback – that is, if they aren’t all-in on Stetson Bennett by then.
Could Kirk Cousins be an option in free agency? Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk seems to think so. While on the “Rich Eisen Show” Thursday, Florio proposed the idea that the Rams and 49ers will fight over Cousins next offseason when he becomes a free agent. Cousins will hit the market if the Vikings don’t re-sign him before next March and he’s going to make a boatload of money, whether fans agree with it or not.
“Rich, let’s play it out to March of next year,” Florio said. “I think you’re gonna see – unless the Vikings re-sign him by then and they can’t use the franchise tag on him the way his contract is structured – you’re gonna see a potential tug-of-war between Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay for Kirk Cousins next March. Mark that down.”
"I think they really like Sam Darnold."
We think we know what the plan is at the quarterback position in San Francisco but do we really? Mike Florio speculated with us today:#NFL pic.twitter.com/yoSmyx9QZU
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) June 22, 2023
Obviously, the logic behind this idea is the ties between Cousins and Shanahan and McVay. They were both on Washington’s staff when Cousins was the quarterback there, so they know his game well.
Cousins will be 35 years old next offseason, and he’s only 6 months older than Stafford is. So it’s not as if the Rams would be getting much younger by swapping out Stafford for Cousins. Not to mention, why would Los Angeles part ways with Stafford and take on all that dead money just to sign a quarterback who isn’t necessarily better or much younger?
This isn’t the same thing as the Rams eating a bunch of dead money by trading Jared Goff to go all-in on Stafford. This would be paying an inordinate amount of money to cut/trade Stafford just to sign a mid-tier veteran. It really wouldn’t make much sense – unless Stafford plans to retire.
In an ideal world, Stafford will bounce back this year and remain healthy, returning to the form he showed in 2021, thus continuing to play in 2024 and beyond. There’s a lot that can happen between now and then, but it’s hard to imagine the Rams dumping Stafford for Cousins next year.
