Rams off season decisions

Top offseason to-do list items for Rams, starting with QB Matthew Stafford

Jourdan Rodrigue

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6081931/2025/01/23/rams-offseason-to-do-list-matthew-stafford/

LOS ANGELES — To QB, or not to QB, that will be the top question facing the Los Angeles Rams this offseason after another standout season from quarterback and team captain Matthew Stafford.

Yes, that is a fact. Stafford’s renegotiated contract, structured intentionally by team and player on the first day of training camp in the summer, effectively rendered it a one-year deal despite its outlined years running through 2026. Guaranteed money was front-loaded into 2024 (he had $23 million in guarantees this season on a $46.1 million cap number, per Over the Cap), and only $4 million is guaranteed next season with none in 2026.

Such a contract, league and team sources say, means the Rams and Stafford will have the option of revisiting new or reworked terms this spring. They could also part ways with the quarterback either by trade or retirement, though it’s hard to see Stafford not having any say in where he plays next (in that scenario the Rams would probably work with him similar to Detroit in 2021), and Stafford said after Sunday night’s divisional-round loss to the Philadelphia Eagles that he believes he can still play — and at the high level with which he finished the season.

There is no doubt Stafford has elevated the Rams’ offense during his time in L.A., and the team could opt to work out some type of deal with the 36-year-old who also only missed one game because of injury over the last two seasons. They are projected to have more than $35 million in cap space this offseason. They don’t have an in-house backup plan in place yet; current backup Jimmy Garoppolo is a free agent and would be a bridge to another solution at best, and former fourth-round pick Stetson Bennett is a firm backup or third-string player. The Rams don’t pick until No. 26 in the first round of this year’s draft, which is not so far considered to be quarterback loaded and especially not at that pick point. Coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead have been aggressive before — see the arrival of Stafford in 2021 — so a big trade can’t be ruled out again if they decide to move on.

The quarterback question is the most significant of those facing the team this offseason:

1. Other (expensive) veteran players

Receiver Cooper Kupp said this week he plans on playing football in 2025 but was uncertain whether that will be with the Rams, who had trade conversations about the former triple crown winner with teams ahead of this season’s deadline.

“Who knows what is going to happen?” he said. “A lot of stuff is out of my control. We’ll see (what) it’s going to be. There was obviously stuff that was going on early in the season and we’ll see. I don’t have any clarity on what that’s gonna look like. Obviously would love to be in L.A., but I don’t know what that is gonna look like.”

Kupp, 31, signed a three-year, $80 million contract extension in 2022. His salary-cap numbers in 2025 and 2026 are $29.7 million and $27.3 million, with $5 million in guarantees in 2025 and none in 2026, according to Over the Cap. He also is owed roster bonuses of $12.5 million combined over the next two seasons, per OTC. The $7.5 million roster bonus owed to Kupp in 2025 triggers March 19.

However, Kupp’s on-field production has declined since 2022 in part because of injuries. He played in nine regular-season games in 2022, and 12 games apiece in 2023 and 2024. This regular season, Kupp finished with 67 catches for 710 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games. In his 14 total games (including the postseason), Kupp had 10 or more targets just four times and eight or more targets six times.

Tight end Tyler Higbee, 32, played in just five games this season/postseason but scored a touchdown in three of them. The bulk of the guarantees in the two-year, $17 million extension he signed with the Rams in 2023 were paid in 2024, and he is effectively entering the last year of the deal (2026 is a void year). Higbee had multiple surgeries over the last calendar year to repair his knee and said he wants to keep playing.

“I believe I showed I still got some juice,” Higbee said. “Physically I feel like I got some juice, mentally I feel like I got some juice. Cup isn’t full yet, you know? Excited to see what the future holds.”

Right tackle Rob Havenstein is also effectively entering the last year on the three-year, $34.5 million extension he signed in 2022. He has no remaining guaranteed money in 2025, and a cap number of $11.3 million. The team captain missed six regular-season games because of injury this year and turns 33 in May. Like Kupp and Higbee, Havenstein is one of the few remaining members of not only the Super Bowl-winning core but also among the players first coached by McVay when he took the Rams job in 2017.

Havenstein told The Athletic on Monday afternoon he needs to take some time to think about his future and to listen to what his body tells him over the next few weeks.

“Honestly, I’m gonna take the time to go home and be a dad for a little while,” he said, his voice shaking slightly, “see what that looks like. Most of us older guys, usually it’s the second day after a game that kind of you really start feeling the woes. I’m gonna take this week, be a good dad, and then we’ll talk with the wife and everything.

“But I still love playing. I still love this team. It’s a special building. I’ve been here for 10 years. I love this place.”

2. Speaking of the offensive line …

Starting left tackle Alaric Jackson will be a free agent this spring, and the Rams do not have a reliable/proven backup to take his place if he signs elsewhere.

They also have a big decision to make at guard and center, where their most expensive offensive lineman this season was relegated to a backup role or substituted in for heavier personnel packages in the playoffs. Jonah Jackson, who dealt with repeated shoulder injuries through training camp and the first half of the season, signed a three-year, $51 million contract with the Rams in free agency. In his absence, rookie Beaux Limmer emerged as a capable center although he will want back the final few snaps of the divisional-round loss, during which defensive tackle Jalen Carter twice baited Limmer on an inside-outside step to rush Stafford (sacking him on third down and pressuring him on fourth down). Still, Limmer played well and is the cheaper of the two players. The Rams are set at starters Steve Avila at left guard and Kevin Dotson at right guard. So where does Jackson fit? Does he?

3. Key free-agent decisions and team needs

Team needs for the Rams this spring either in the draft or free agency include tackle, cornerback, inside linebacker, large defensive lineman, receiver and backup quarterback.

Questions about the structure and overall decision-making process of their pro personnel department loom after their larger external transactions in free agency in 2022 and 2024. The Rams signed inside linebacker Bobby Wagner and receiver Allen Robinson in 2022, and neither stayed longer than a season (Wagner started through the year but Robinson struggled to find a role). Jackson’s signing initiated an ill-timed move of Avila to center, then back to left guard (his stronger position), and the coaching staff tried to force Jackson into the center spot in a bad loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 10 before replacing him again with Limmer. Tight end Colby Parkinson finished the regular season with just 30 catches for 294 yards, and the Rams traded cornerback Tre White to Baltimore after rushing him to the field post-Achilles surgery recovery, where White struggled and then was benched.

But the Rams have drafted extremely well as an entire staff. Second-year players Kobie Turner (DL), Byron Young (OLB), Puka Nacua (WR), Ethan Evans (P) and Avila (LG) continued to play key/starting roles, and rookies Jared Verse (OLB), Braden Fiske (DL), Limmer (C) and Josh Karty (K) emerged as core starters. Kam Kinchens (S) found a role as the year progressed. Verse, the Rams’ first first-round pick since 2016, was the only member of their roster voted to the Pro Bowl. Undrafted free agent Omar Speights became a solid starter at inside linebacker over the season, and Jaylen McCollough (S) made key plays in the first half of the year and tied Kinchens with four interceptions apiece.

Key/notable free agents: LT Alaric Jackson, DL Bobby Brown III, CB Ahkello Witherspoon, OLB Michael Hoecht, WR Tutu Atwell, WR Demarcus Robinson, S John Johnson III, ILB Christian Rozeboom, Garoppolo.