The Los Angeles Rams are the subject of the NFL after supposedly agreeing to the terms of a blockbuster exchange for Matthew Stafford, but if everything went according to plan, they would have ended up with an even bigger name in the center. Appearing on the NFL Network Sunday night to discuss the Rams deal for Stafford, the Los Angeles Times‘Sam Farmer said the team originally tried to negotiate with Packers star Aaron Rodgers, but Green Bay simply refused to accept the idea.
“They wanted to upgrade Jared Goff,” said Farmer. “They felt that there were a number of defenders who could do this. I think Deshaun Watson was out of his price range. They tried to hit Aaron Rodgers, and the Packers were adamant that they were not negotiating with him.”
While the news isn’t necessarily surprising, considering how much Rams ‘brass openly suggested seeking an upgrade over Goff in 2021, it still sounds loud in the wake of Rodgers’ reported discontent in Green Bay. The Packers, for what it’s worth, have repeatedly and publicly expressed faith in Rodgers as the club’s QB in the near and even distant future, with Rodgers himself recently suggesting that there is little reason for him not to return in 2021. But QB has notably questioned his own future with the team after the defeat of the Packers’ NFC Championship and is unhappy with his current contract, leading to speculation about his availability.
There is also the Rodgers connection to California. While it is clear that Green Bay takes the retention of the number 12 seriously – or simply did not generate enough substantive business proposals from the Rams – Rodgers was born and raised on the West Coast, home to the Rams. In the end, LA craving him as a potential replacement for Goff is likely to remain in the “what could have been” file, with Rodgers’ former NFC North rival in Stafford going to the Rams.