Matthew Stafford has received permission from the Los Angeles Rams to speak with other teams. According to a surprising report from Tom Pelissero, the Super Bowl champion is now officially able to hear offers for a blockbuster trade.
“My understanding is that the Rams have been in conversations with his agent and that they’ve also given his agent permission to talk to other clubs. Just figure out: ‘Hey, if he became available, if there were a trade, what would the numbers be elsewhere?’ That takes care of multiple things. Number one, what Matthew Stafford could get if we got to a trade, because you wouldn’t be able to execute a trade without having a new deal in place.”
In recent weeks, several rumors suggest that Stafford interests teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants. However, there is still no final decision from the Rams regarding the future of the star quarterback.
Is Matthew Stafford leaving the Rams?
Matthew Stafford’s priority would be not to leave the Rams. Tom Pelissero’s information indicates that the goal of letting him test the market is to find the ideal point for negotiating a new contract.
“Also, it gives the Rams an idea of how to be able to work out a new contract to keep him in Los Angeles. It certainly sounds as if the priority for Stafford is to return to the Rams. We’ll see exactly what direction this goes here. It would make sense for this to one way or another come to a head within the next few weeks because everybody is going to need an alternative if they’re not able to work something out in LA.”