wv wrote:

It vexes me.

The answer to all of your questions is, “16-0, baby!”

That applies even though there are now 17 games each season.

Whatever happened to Old Hacker, anyway? Did he ride off into the sunset on his John Deere?

Zooey wrote:

The answer to all of your questions is, “16-0, baby!” That applies even though there are now 17 games each season. Whatever happened to Old Hacker, anyway? Did he ride off into the sunset on his John Deere?

As I recall, Old Hacker passed away a few years ago.

…

And he's still one of the best tight-window throwers in the league. This window almost doesn't exist, but Stafford's mix of anticipation, velocity, and careful placement put it in the *only* spot it can go. Rams just didn't have the talent to showcase this as often last year. pic.twitter.com/RHhDJEtB8e

— Derrik Klassen (@QBKlass) June 22, 2023

I also love how capable Stafford is in pure dropback situations. It's what won the Rams the SB in 2021, and he still showed great process in 2022. Five in the concept, peeks 1-on-1, comes back to throw deep over as soon as he realizes FS is out-leveraged. Big boy QB play. pic.twitter.com/253btWFmtc

— Derrik Klassen (@QBKlass) June 22, 2023

To that same end, Stafford has such a good understanding of all the moving pieces. Buys space to give the corner route a chance at first, but immediately turns back to fire over the middle once that option has been exhausted. Knows where the target should be and doesn't hesitate. pic.twitter.com/cYMajGyCpv

— Derrik Klassen (@QBKlass) June 22, 2023

Stafford should be 6th on this list. https://t.co/Fk285AUq6d

— Far2Reckless 🐏's🏠! (@soulreaper313) June 24, 2023

The #PFN365 QB Power Rankings are here❕

Which top-10 quarterback surprised you and who should be much higher❓ pic.twitter.com/geBfxBplBw

— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) June 29, 2023

Stafford needs someone like OBJ in addition to Kupp.

The Rams won huge games down the stretch in Dec of the Super Bowl run (in Minnesota and in Baltimore) in spite of Stafford’s poor play.

It was OBJ and the defense, certainly not elite play from Stafford during that stretch.

zn wrote:

Not so sure I agree. Coming from behind against SF in the NFC game, in the 4th quarter Stafford went 14 of 17 for 121 yds. for 3 scores including a TD. They scored on all 3 4th quarter possessions. That’s against the NFL’s 3rd ranked defense that year.

Thank goodness the SF safety J Tart dropped a sure pick in the 4th qtr of the NFC Championship.

Dec 2021 vs Vikes. 46 passer rating with 3 picks…. no pick 6’s that day, but very close as the 2nd int was returned to the 2 yard line that resulted in a Vikes TD.

1 week later in Baltimore, 2 ints and a fumble.

BTW, both those games were great road wins in spite of the elite play of #9.

I like Stafford, but OBJ and the defense was a big part of the SB run.

joemad wrote:

“Before his option bonus was kicking in the Rams attempted with a lot of effort to move Matthew Stafford”

I’m skeptical. The only source on that is Lombardi himself.

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2023/07/13/matthew-stafford-mentioned-among-nfls-best-deep-passers/?taid=64b03607add63d0001d2e7b3&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter

The 33rd Team’s Andy Benoit believes that Stafford is the sixth-best deep thrower in the NFL.

The five quarterbacks ahead of Stafford are Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, Justin Herbert, and Joe Burrow. Meanwhile, the three quarterbacks Stafford edged out on the list were Geno Smith, Russell Wilson, and Jalen Hurts.

Time will tell if the 35-year-old Matthew Stafford’s injury woes have taken a permanent toll. If they haven’t, then we’re talking about a quarterback who led his team to a Super Bowl title in part by leading the league in passing yards on 20-plus-yard attempts two years ago.

The Rams built that 2021 offense specifically around Stafford’s downfield throwing prowess, applying many play-action route combinations into a more expansive dropback passing game.

They did that because Stafford had one of the best arms of his generation and the poise, fundamentals and courage to play from within the pocket late in the down. That gave his receivers the necessary time to make downfield throws available.

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2023/07/17/rams-matthew-stafford-contract-redo-colin-cowherd-report/

There were rumors this offseason that the Rams tried to trade Matthew Stafford, which doesn’t make a lot of sense considering the structure of his contract. His option bonus and 2024 salary became guaranteed this spring, locking in the veteran quarterback for $62 million.

Colin Cowherd of FOX Sports isn’t a reporter, but he shared a tidbit of information about Stafford’s contract on his show last week. Citing a source he trusts, Cowherd said the Rams wanted Stafford to rework his deal but he declined, which left the team “frustrated.”

“I was told by a source I trust that they wanted to redo his contract. He wasn’t interested. It limits what they can do and they were frustrated with him,” Cowherd said. “And I could also see them next year taking a quarterback because the way to catch up in this league with personnel is rookie quarterback, go buy four good players.”

Breer believes the Rams were just exploring their options and not actually shopping Stafford on the trade market.

“If you’re talking about shopping a guy, like, ‘We’re looking to offload him,’ that’s not what they were looking to do,” he said. “But they did earmark this as a reset year. And what I was told over and over again in February and March and when they traded Jalen Ramsey was, ‘We feel like if we don’t do this now, it’s gonna take two years, not one, for us to get out underneath all of the cap debt we’ve built up over the years building up the roster as aggressively as we have so we need to hit the reset button now.’ And when you’re going through the process of hitting the reset button, you explore everything. I think that’s more of what this was than anybody being shopped.”

The Rams have called this a remodel, not a rebuild. They feel they can still compete with the core of Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald intact, needing their younger players to step up and fill the voids left by key veteran starters.

Stafford was never going to get traded this offseason but the Rams probably realized how restricting his contract is, especially with $62 million becoming guaranteed this offseason. He has a cap hit of $20 million this year, but that spikes to $49.5 million in 2024 and 2026, and $50.5 million in 2025.

Article below is reporting on this broadcast: (link — https://theathletic.com/podcast/65-11-personnel/?episode=190 )

Rams COO Kevin Demoff talks Stafford, McVay, 2023 season

Matthew Stafford addresses trade talks, Rams’ attempt to restructure contract

GARY KLEIN

https://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/story/2023-07-27/matthew-stafford-contract-rams-trade-talks-training-camp

Matthew Stafford is preparing for his 15th NFL season, his third with the Rams.

But during an offseason in which several big names departed and the roster was not restocked with stars, even his name came up.

Stafford acknowledged Wednesday that teams inquired about trading for him, and that the Rams approached him about restructuring his contract.

After the Rams won Super Bowl LVI at the end of the 2021 season, they rewarded Stafford with a four-year extension that included $120 million in guarantees and could be worth as much as $160 million. Stafford, 35, will carry a salary-cap number of $20 million this season, $49.5 million in 2024 and $50.5 million in 2025, according to overthecap.com.

That deal remains in place.

Last season, Stafford suffered a concussion and spinal injury that forced him to sit out eight of the last nine games.

He said it was “flattering” that other teams inquired about trading for him.

“I just know that I’m really happy where I am, playing for this team, playing for this coach and playing for these fans,” he said after practice at UC Irvine.

After a disastrous 5-12 finish last season, the Rams decided to cut spending. They traded or released numerous players, including highly paid star cornerback Jalen Ramsey, linebacker Bobby Wagner and edge rusher Leonard Floyd.

In March, Stafford’s $31-million base salary for this season became fully guaranteed and he received a $26-million option bonus.

On the Athletic’s “11 Personnel” podcast, Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff refuted a report that the Rams asked Stafford to restructure his contract.

On Wednesday, when asked if the Rams reached out to him or his agent about renegotiating or restructuring his contract, Stafford said, “They did, and I’ll keep all that kind of stuff and those conversations in house.”

Stafford later was asked to clarify if the Rams requested to restructure his deal.

“I don’t know what the technical term of it is,” he said, “but we had conversations on that kind of stuff, and I’ll leave it at that.”

Said coach Sean McVay: “When that March deadline came in terms of him being due the bonus that he’s deserved and he’s earned, we were all in unanimous agreement that we wanted him to be the quarterback.”

Last year, Stafford did not throw passes during offseason workouts and was limited during training camp because of right elbow tendinitis. In nine games, he passed for 10 touchdowns with eight interceptions.

Stafford was a full participant in offseason workouts and appeared to be at full strength Wednesday in the Rams’ first training camp workout.

“I feel a lot better physically,” he said. “I feel really healthy compared to where I was last year. I was able to get the work in that I wanted to get in coming into this, and that makes it a whole lot more fun for me.”

Who is the most overrated? Which player was disrespected?

Welcome to @SandoNFL's 2023 QB Tiers.

Unfiltered thoughts from 50 NFL coaches and executives on 30 veteran QBs.https://t.co/knDENsbQTh

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 31, 2023

…

[link above]

from NFL Quarterback Tiers 2023: Mahomes, Burrow take over Tier 1, Hurts vaults to top of Tier 2

Mike Sando
Jul 31, 2023

Patrick Mahomes has no equal in this 10th edition of the Quarterback Tiers, although AFC rival Joe Burrow is close behind. Mahomes, Burrow and Josh Allen all overtook Aaron Rodgers. Justin Herbert is lurking. Is Jalen Hurts on track to join the exclusive Tier 1 ranks, reserved for the very best?

The 2023 Quarterback Tiers results are here, complete with commentary from the 50 NFL coaches and executives who were granted anonymity to share unvarnished evaluations. This year, the 50 league insiders who placed 30 veteran quarterbacks into tiers included eight general managers, 10 head coaches, 15 coordinators, 10 executives, four quarterbacks coaches and three involved in coaching/analytics.

Voters put 30 veteran quarterbacks into five tiers, from best (Tier 1) to worst (Tier 5). Quarterbacks were then ranked by average vote and placed into tiers based on vote distribution, beginning with Mahomes, whose 1.00 average vote reflected his status as a unanimous Tier 1 selection. No QBs landed in Tier 5 this year, although some received Tier 5 votes. The survey excludes rookies because voters have not seen them play in the NFL.

The tiers are defined below. Generally speaking, the better equipped a quarterback is to win with less help around him, especially in situations when running the ball is not feasible, the better he will fare in Quarterback Tiers.

The 30 QB modules below expand to reveal commentary and voting histories. Tap or click on the down arrows near each QB to get started.

Tier 1
A Tier 1 quarterback can carry his team each week. The team wins because of him. He expertly handles pure passing situations. He has no real holes in his game.

1 Patrick Mahomes
2 Joe Burrow
3 Josh Allen
4 Aaron Rodgers
5 Justin Herbert

Tier 2
A Tier 2 quarterback can carry his team sometimes but not as consistently. He can handle pure passing situations in doses and/or possesses other dimensions that are special enough to elevate him above Tier 3. He has a hole or two in his game.

6 Jalen Hurts
7 Lamar Jackson
8 Trevor Lawrence
9 Dak Prescott

10 Matthew Stafford

Stafford is making his 10th consecutive appearance in Tier 2, but his 2.32 average vote was his worst since entering the 2016 season. He played only nine games in 2022 because of injury.

“I don’t know if they can protect well enough for him,” an offensive coach said. “Does he really give a s— enough at this stage of his career to be disciplined, or is he just going to wing it when it gets a little tight, and just force balls because he can? Remember Philip Rivers at the end in (Los Angeles) when he threw 21 interceptions and just said f— it? That’s what I’m worried about.”

Rivers led the NFL in interceptions twice over his final three seasons with the Chargers. Stafford led the league in 2021, but his interception rate has never been as high as Rivers’ highest rates.

“If he doesn’t get hurt, he is still a top-level quarterback,” a personnel director said. “I think he can still sling it around. The offense was not predicated on the run first even when they won the Super Bowl, so I think any time he is healthy and back there able to deal it, you can win because of him.”

Stafford has missed about half the season twice in the past four years.

“He still has the ability to go win a game in the 2-minute drill, regardless of the pieces around him,” a defensive coordinator said. “I just think his body is betraying him. You hear great things about his football IQ and just hope that will allow him to maintain, where if there is any more semblance of a run game, it will help him. He just can’t be a volume thrower at this point.”

11 Deshaun Watson
12 Kirk Cousins

Tier 3
A Tier 3 quarterback is a legitimate starter but needs a heavier running game and/or defensive component to win. A lower-volume dropback passing offense suits him best.

13 Kyler Murray
14 Derek Carr
15 Jared Goff
16 Russell Wilson
17 Tua Tagovailoa
18 Jimmy Garoppolo
19 Daniel Jones
20 Geno Smith
21 Justin Fields
22 Ryan Tannehill
23 Mac Jones

Tier 4
A Tier 4 quarterback could be an unproven player (not enough information for voters to classify) or a veteran who ideally would not start all 17 games.

24 Brock Purdy
25 Kenny Pickett
26 Baker Mayfield
28 Sam Howell
29 Desmond Ridder
30 Gardner Minshew