Sean McVay’s Rams will go seven years in a row without a first round. (Getty)
Without a doubt, the Los Angeles Rams improved their quarterback position with the Matthew Stafford trade entering a new season where they will battle the Seahawks and the rest of a tough NFC West.
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Stafford is a highly armed gunfighter who can bear offense better than Jared Goff. Critics point out that he has brought the Detroit Lions to the playoffs three times and is 0-3 in postseason games, but the reason for those failures lies more with the Lions than with Stafford.
Detroit’s rosters were not good enough to advance in the playoffs. Since Stafford was drafted by the Lions in 2009, they are ranked 31st in the rush of football. The defense wasn’t that great during his stay there either.
Sean McVay, head coach of Rams, will give Stafford a smooth attack and better attack plans, but there could be downsides to this trade. The Rams may be a better playoff team next season, but it can be difficult to maintain a quality roster, and the ramifications of this transaction are brutal.
Sure, the Rams are saving money by ditching Goff’s contract to Detroit, but they now have $ 42.2 million in salary cap with Stafford’s $ 20 million salary, and the ceiling is expected to fall. The minimum cap for 2021 is $ 175 million, with most people in the league thinking it will be around $ 180 million, $ 19.2 million less than the 2020 season.
Just over 15 percent of the caproom stuck in a quarterback makes it difficult to keep players or sign free agents. Stafford’s salary and the dead money the Rams bring in by sending Goff to Detroit will eat 23.4 percent of a $ 180 million cap.
The Rams are currently worth $ 35 million over a $ 180 million limit, the third highest in the league. It will be difficult for the Rams to re-sign players, and they have 13 unlimited free agents this off-season. They will have a hard time keeping Leonard Floyd, who was a star when she rushed Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson during their three meetings this season. They won’t be able to keep their second best wide receiver, Josh Reynolds. Safety Josh Johnson is a star in the secondary, and he’s awake. Tight end Gerald Everett is also a free agent.
There can also be an impact along the attack line. They could struggle to re-sign center Austin Blythe and they may have to tackle Rob Havenstein, among others, to get under the cap.
What is clear is that McVay gets what he wants when it comes to players. The Rams have been an aggressive team. In their Super Bowl year, they acquired cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib. They then removed them and then traded for another star in the corner, Jalen Ramsey.
But there is a dangerous game going on. It’s pretty clear that McVay can turn on a player. He did that with Goff. He did it with the wide receiver Brandin Cooks. The Rams entered the Super Bowl two years ago, but they ended the 2020 season with only 24 players left from that Super Bowl appearance on the final 53-man team, including eight starters who defended.
There is also a high turnover among the technical staff. Only five coaches remained of McVay’s original staff when he was hired in 2017 after the Seahawks took over passing game coordinator Shane Waldron and assistant offensive line coach Andy Dickerson, making them attacking coordinator and run game coordinator respectively.
McVay has had good coaches. Matt LeFleur, Zac Taylor and Brandon Staley all got head coaching appearances. But at some point, the bold moves and changes can catch up with the Rams. Goff was a first-round pick in 2016, but after the exchange for Stafford, the Rams will do without a first-rounder from the year after selecting Goff to 2023. That’s seven years.
Like the Seahawks, the Rams have benefited from compensatory choices for starters lost in free agency. They have four this year, plus a third round of compensatory pick that they will receive in 2022 for their director of scouting in college, Brad Holmes, who is leaving to become Detroit’s general manager.
That puts a lot of pressure on Ram’s GM Les Snead to hit starter replacements without top picks. Seahawks GM John Schneider did his best to keep Seattle at playoff level after a two-year Super Bowl run in 2013 and 2014, but the loss of starters at free agency made them more of a wildcard team for years.
Stafford has a two-year contract. He will do well for Los Angeles, but the battle for the Rams will keep talent around him.
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