Matthew Stafford to the Giants could happen.
There are a lot of reasons the Rams’ quarterback wouldn’t end up in New York, too, even if L.A. traded him.
But the door isn’t shut on the Big Apple, it seems. At least that was one NFL source’s opinion this week.
Would Stafford even want to play for the Giants?
“Yes,” said the source, who is not connected to Stafford’s camp.
It could be Stafford’s best path to one final payday at age 37 that validates his standing and consistently high level of play in the skyrocketing modern NFL salary market.
His $40 million per year cap hit only ranks 15th among NFL QBs, despite the fact that he was a half-second away from nearly toppling the eventual Super Bowl champion Eagles on the road in the snow during these playoffs.
Stafford could also conceivably have a higher opinion of the Giants’ roster than most due to Malik Nabers’ rookie year promise, with Cooper Kupp’s imminent departure from the Rams taking away one of his closest teammates and favorite weapons.
And while Giants GM Joe Schoen promised “no Hail Mary’s” out of self-preservation this offseason, Stafford unquestionably is the quarterback who would provide the Giants with their highest ceiling for the immediate 2025 season among those potentially available.
So adding Stafford might just be Schoen and Brian Daboll’s best path to making it year five of their contracts, even if it weren’t the savviest long-term investment.
Then again, ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter said on the Talkin’ Ball with Pat Leonard podcast Thursday that the Rams currently “have sensed and believe that they think they can get it worked out” with Stafford on a new contract.
For now, “their first priority, their interest is in re-signing Matthew,” Schefter said. “And I think Matthew would like to be back in L.A.”
So if their numbers end up not matching and talks break down, then trade scenarios would come into play. It’s just not there yet.
This is all hypothetical, of course. Both Stafford and the Rams would have a more successful season if they ran it back in Los Angeles, and both parties have to know that.
Still, whispers of some friction about Stafford’s Rams contract circulated early. Schefter reported recently that the Giants were hiring former Jaguars and Bills receivers coach Chad Hall, who just so happens to be Stafford’s brother-in-law.
Then Stafford’s wife, Kelly, left their future in the NFL open-ended in a brief comment on her ‘Timeout’ podcast.
“God knows where we’ll be, but hell – here we go,” she said during the podcast’s Super Bowl episode.
Stafford is only scheduled to make $27 million in 2025 and $31 million in 2026 between salaries and roster bonuses. The $63 million fully guaranteed on the extension he signed in 2022 also is dwarfed, for example, by Trevor Lawrence’s $142 million fully guaranteed with the Jaguars, per overthecap.com.
And although contracts like Lawrence’s are not directly comparable to Stafford’s because Lawrence is younger and signed his contract years later, there is a hierarchy of validation in the NFL that matters to players and locker rooms.
The Rams have a high opinion of Stafford, who led them to a Super Bowl, and always have. But there is also no good time to move on from a good player as he ages.
And if they’re hesitant about overcommitting whatever money and years Stafford is seeking to a quarterback who would be 40 by the end of his new deal, securing a king’s ransom in return to reset at QB and across the roster could accelerate the team’s next phase.
Stafford also has been part of facilitating a mega-trade once before, when the Detroit Lions did right by him and swapped Stafford to the Rams for Jared Goff in March 2021.
Schefter shot down any rumors on Thursday, though, that the Giants would include their No. 3 overall pick as part of any hypothetical Stafford trade. They need it, after all, to upgrade the roster – whether it’s with a young developmental quarterback like Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward or a position player like edge rusher Abdul Carter or corner Travis Hunter.
“Let me be very clear: that pick is not in the conversation if Matthew Stafford and the Rams can’t get a deal worked out — and if Matthew Stafford becomes available and all of a sudden the Giants surface as a contender,” Schefter said. “If all those things happen … there is no way in hell that the Giants are giving up the third overall pick for Matthew Stafford. Zero. zero.”
That doesn’t mean Schoen wouldn’t trade a future first-round pick for Stafford, though. After all, the Giants’ 2026 first-rounder could be the next GM’s problem.
Not that the Giants could simply stir Stafford into their existing offense and immediately succeed.
One NFL source cautioned that if the Giants wanted Stafford, the organization would have to “make more of a commitment to the offensive line” to protect Stafford way better than the Giants have protected their quarterbacks of the past.
They’d also have to adjust Daboll’s scheme to take less pressure off of the QB to do everything and provide more structure for the veteran to sling the ball mostly from the pocket.
Could they do that in one offseason while surrendering assets and draft picks to add Stafford to their existing team? Their track record says no.
These are desperate times, though. Stafford is a great player and a winner. The Giants have let too many great players and too many winners leave their team recently. And they need a quarterback in the worst way.
So if Stafford and the Rams can’t strike a deal, a flirtation with the Giants isn’t that big of a stretch.
DABOLL’S SON LEAVES GIANTS STAFF
Giants offensive assistant Christian Daboll, the son of head coach Brian Daboll, has left the team’s coaching staff to pursue other avenues, according to sources, the Daily News first reported on ‘X.’ Brian Daboll hired Christian onto New York’s staff coming out of college at Penn State for the 2023-24 seasons.