Sean McVay Confirms Rams Would Have Pursued Aaron Rodgers If They’d Traded Matthew Stafford

Specifically, McVay said if the Rams had ultimately not been able to come to a resolution with QB Matthew Stafford, who explored his trade market with the Raiders, Giants and other teams this offseason, they would have looked hard at signing QB Aaron Rodgers as a replacement. 

“Our first priority … was let’s work something out with Matthew,” McVay said via Jeremy Bergman. “… If that wasn’t able to occur, then that was definitely a conversation and possibility for us.”

Ultimately the Rams reached an agreement with Stafford to keep him in 2025, though the situation between the two sides remains a year-to-year proposition, and Rodgers ended up signing with the Steelers. The Rams and Stafford will have to go through a similar dance next year but McVay thinks this past year’s experience will make things smoother. 

“What I do feel really fortunate about is I think that we’re closer than ever. When you’re able to have real conversations, I think you can appreciate the love that’s been built up, but also the ability to be honest with one another.”

Rodgers, 41, is a former first-round pick of the Packers back in 2005. He agreed to a four-year, $134 million extension that included over $100 million guaranteed in 2018. 

Rodgers was owed a base salary of $25 million in the final year of his deal in 2022 when he agreed to a three-year, $150 million extension with $101 million of the deal guaranteed.

After one year, the Packers traded him to the Jets for a package that included a second-round pick in 2023 and a conditional 2024 second that could become a first. 

He played just four snaps in 2023 before tearing his Achilles in Week 1 but returned as the Jets’ quarterback for the 2024 season. New York released him with a June 1 designation after the season. 

In 2024, Rodgers appeared in all 17 games for the Jets and completed 63 percent of his passes for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.

Stafford, 37, is a former first-round pick of the Lions, who took him with the No. 1 overall pick out of Georgia in 2009. He was in the final year of a five-year, $76.5 million contract when he and the Lions agreed to a five-year, $135 million extension back in 2017.

Stafford was involved in a blockbuster trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for QB Jared Goff and draft picks in 2021. He signed a four-year extension worth $160 million that included $135 million guaranteed a year later. 

The Rams and Stafford later reworked that deal going into the 2024 season, moving money up from the back of the contract. Stafford was due $27 million and $31 million in the final two years of his deal when the two sides reworked his existing contract again in 2025. 

In 2024, Stafford appeared in 16 games for the Rams and threw for 3,762 yards while completing 65.8 percent of his passes for 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions.