The NFL Scouting Combine serves as the first big event on the NFL offseason calendar where GMs, agents and coaches are all together in the same place and able to chat. More often than not, business happens at the Combine, especially with the bar-stool conversations or the chats in line getting coffee or snacks.
This week should be no different as the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine gets underway in Indianapolis. There, one of the biggest offseason questions could be resolved, that being the Matthew Stafford situation in Los Angeles, whether that’s a trade or a re-worked contract tying Stafford with the Rams for the rest of his career.
For ESPN’s Dan Graziano, who appeared on SportsCenter Monday morning, there’s a “pretty good chance” the Stafford situation gets resolved this week, especially with the Rams recently giving the veteran quarterback permission to contact other teams.
“I think the Rams would like to have this resolved sooner rather than later. Ideally, maybe the early part of this week so they can get to some other business at the Combine,” Graziano said, according to video via ESPN. “They have been talking to Matthew Stafford about what a new contract would look like. It’s certainly possible they reach an agreement, and he stays there, but it’s also possible that they don’t, in which case other teams would be interested in trading for Stafford.
“We’ve heard the Giants connected as a possibility a lot, so, but I do think we’ll have some clarity on this here in the coming days.”
Reports have made it clear that Stafford wants to stay in Los Angeles, where he won a Super Bowl in 2021 over the Cincinnati Bengals. He’s had a great deal of success there under head coach Sean McVay, but he’s entering his age-37 season and is owed a lot of money and finds himself in a contract dispute for the second straight offseason.
That’s led to plenty of trade chatter regarding the 2009 No. 1 overall pick, and one team that has been connected to him since the trade rumors popped up has been the Pittsburgh Steelers, who find themselves with a major need at quarterback once again.
What a trade for Stafford would look like is up for debate. Though he’s 37 years old, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported that the Rams could look for a first-round pick in return for Stafford. That’s a high asking price, especially for an older quarterback who only has two years left on his contract and presumably would want a new deal if moved.
Stafford is coming off a 2024 season in which he threw for 3,762 yards and 20 touchdowns to just eight interceptions in 16 games, sitting out the regular-season finale. In the playoffs, Stafford led the Rams to a 27-9 win over the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card Round and then lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 28-22 in the Divisional Round. Across two playoff games, Stafford completed 63.4% of his passes for 533 yards and four touchdowns.
