Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford considers the Los Angeles Rams to be a viable candidate in its business market, sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Friday.
While it is unclear what the Rams can do with quarterback Jared Goff’s long-term deal in the books, they explored the possibilities with Stafford, the sources said.
Cutting Goff would cost the Rams $ 65.2 million in dead money; trading it would cost $ 22.2 million.
Rams general manager Les Snead earlier this week said it would not be easy to overcome the amount of money invested in Goff, but added that “anything can be done” under a salary cap system when asked if it would be possible to move forward of choice No. 1 above.
The Lions frontline is well acquainted with the Rams salary cap situation. General manager Brad Holmes was a former executive at Rams before getting his job at GM in Detroit earlier this month.
Lions and Stafford last week mutually agreed to the separation. A source familiar with the situation told ESPN late on Saturday that Lions would be looking for “fair market value” for Stafford, who is the franchise leader in all major categories of passes.
NFL teams began contacting Lions about Stafford earlier this week, sources told Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Negotiating Stafford will mean $ 19 million in dead money for Lions in 2021, saving $ 14 million in capitalization space for Detroit next season. There is also a kind of deadline because Stafford has a $ 10 million bonus on the player list due on March 22, the fifth day of the new league year.
Stafford will leave Detroit, whenever it is traded, having launched for 45,109 yards, 282 touchdowns and 144 interceptions. Lions made three playoff appearances with Stafford, losing three times in the wild card round.
Michael Rothstein and Lindsey Thiry of ESPN contributed to this report.