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Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Matthew Stafford 2025 destinations: Could Rams really move on from Super Bowl-winning QB?

By Eric Smithling | Last updated Feb 12, 2025 5:01 PM ET

We made it two days before our first wild rumor of the 2025 NFL offseason.

On Wednesday, ESPN NFL staff writer Kevin Seifert reported that the Rams will discuss quarterback Matthew Stafford's future in the coming weeks.

"Stafford ... has no guaranteed money left on his contract... The Rams could adjust his contract, trade him or release him," wrote Seifert.

What feels like a no-brainer — keeping Stafford — might not be clear-cut.

Here is our ranking of the top destinations for Stafford in 2025.

5. Minnesota Vikings

2024 starter: Sam Darnold

The Vikings need a quarterback who plays his best in the big moments, not one who sees ghosts.

2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy, a 2023 college football national champion at Michigan, might fit that bill. But with the Vikings prepared to contend for a Super Bowl, should they put the fate of their 2025 season in the hands of a quarterback with no career NFL pass attempts?

Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell was Stafford's offensive coordinator in 2021 when the Rams won Super Bowl LVI.

It's easy to get excited about an offense that includes Stafford, wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and tight end T.J. Hockenson. Paired with Minnesota's outstanding defense, that could be a team that challenges the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC throne.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers

2024 starter: Russell Wilson

The Steelers are unsettled at quarterback. Wilson (11 games) and Justin Fields (six games), the 2024 starters, will each enter free agency next month.

Earlier this offseason, Steelers owner Art Rooney II said he'd prefer to have one of the two return for 2025.

"They're both capable quarterbacks, and my preference would be to sign one of them," he said. (h/t ESPN)

Another quarterback could also be an option.

On Tuesday, multiple publications shared the odds for four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers' next NFL home after NFL insider Jay Glazer revealed on Super Bowl Sunday that the Jets intend to release him.

The Steelers (+200) are the favorite to land Rodgers. However, that won't sit well with everyone in Pittsburgh's locker room.

Per Bleacher Report, safety DeShon Elliot explicitly came out against the potential addition.

"Leave his a-- at the retirement home," Elliot said.

Steelers S DeShon Elliot had a WILD quote on Aaron Rodgers potentially being QB1 in Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/3310T6gFdY
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 12, 2025

Stafford, who turned 37 on Feb. 7, is four years younger than Rodgers. While Elliot might consider him nearing geriatric age, Stafford has a few years left before he should be sent to Shady Pines.

3. New York Jets

2024 starter: Aaron Rodgers

The Rodgers experiment failed, but that shouldn't deter the Jets from pursuing Stafford if he becomes available. With Darnold, the Jets' former draft pick, the most notable free agent, New York won't have better options. Stafford is still playing at an elite level, as he showed in the playoffs when he nearly pulled off a divisional-round upset against the Eagles in a 28-22 loss.

2. Las Vegas Raiders

2024 starter: Gardner Minshew

After making Pete Caroll, 73, the oldest coach in NFL history, the Raiders must accelerate their rebuild. Landing Stafford would be a major coup for a franchise that hasn't had much to celebrate in recent seasons. And after Brock Bowers had the most productive season by a rookie tight end in NFL history despite catching passes from Minshew, Aidan O'Connell and Desmond Ridder, think of what he can do with a Pro Bowl talent like Stafford.

1. Los Angeles Rams

2024 starter: Matthew Stafford

Stafford's cap number ($49.7 million) is exorbitant, but the Rams have nailed the draft in recent seasons, acquiring a bevy of talent on cost-controlled rookie contracts and allowing them to absorb Stafford's workload without hurting the roster.

Los Angeles has an estimated $38.3 million in cap space and can free up $12.5 million more with a pre-June 1 Copper Kupp trade, which the team has told Kupp it will explore.

The Rams are undergoing a youth movement, but it's too soon to part with Stafford. Doing so would be a huge mistake.

Eric Smithling

Eric Smithling is a writer based in New Orleans, LA, whose byline also appears on Athlon Sports. He has been with Yardbarker since September 2022, primarily covering the NFL and college football, but also the NBA, WNBA, men’s and women’s college basketball, NHL, tennis and golf. He holds a film studies degree from the University of New Orleans

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