NFL Combine 2025 Notes: Why Matthew Stafford Stayed With the Rams

Los Angeles’s decision to allow his reps to gauge his market pays off. Plus, quarterback options for the Giants, Raiders, Browns and Steelers.

Stafford wanted to stay in Southern California and play for McVay. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

We’re in the final few days of the NFL combine in Indianapolis. And we have one last set of notes before we wrap up the weekend on Monday …

• In the end, the Matthew Stafford saga boiled down to something remarkably simple for the 37-year-old Los Angeles Rams quarterback: Stafford likes living in Southern California and he wants to play for Sean McVay, his coach for the past four years.

Those two elements gave the Rams a level of confidence that they’d get a deal done, even as things went a little sideways the past couple of weeks, and over the past year.

Did they have alternatives? Of course. There was the chance that it wouldn’t work out with Stafford. So the idea that Aaron Rodgers could arrive on a discount, or that Jimmy Garoppolo could be a bridge were discussed, for the same reason Stafford looked at his options with the New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders and elsewhere.

In the end, in a weird way, the Rams’ decision to allow Stafford and his agent, Jimmy Sexton, to talk to other teams actually helped. It allowed Stafford to figure out his market value in an environment where nine other quarterbacks are making more than $50 million per year, and give the team a look at what a post-Stafford world would look like. It also brought into focus that each side’s best play was staying together.

So the word was Thursday night in Indianapolis that the Rams’ brass would meet with Stafford at the team facility at 6:30 a.m. Los Angeles time, and by lunchtime at the combine, the news had become public that a reunion was in the offing.

Which, obviously (at least now), is what everyone here wanted for a conclusion.

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• The next obvious question is what options do the Giants, Raiders, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers now have at quarterback?

My understanding is that the Giants’ plan is to look at all their options, including bringing Aaron Rodgers (who hasn’t been released by the New York Jets yet) across town. Shopping for Stafford, and showing a willingness to pay him, gave the Giants a real look at what adding a veteran quarterback, and accelerating their timeline would look like. And I think the idea of drafting Travis Hunter with the third pick, adding a receiver (might’ve been Cooper Kupp for Stafford; Davante Adams for Rodgers), and getting healthy on the line is intriguing.

My sense is the Raiders are wide open as well, but I’d keep an eye on the idea that Sam Darnold could be the play there—he’s, at least on paper, a pretty good fit for Chip Kelly’s offense, and could become the sort of long-term bridge that Alex Smith once was for Andy Reid in Kansas City.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh would like to keep working with Justin Fields, so long as the number is right, while perhaps adding some competition. And Cleveland, I think, is still likely to attack their quarterback problem on both the veteran and draft fronts, with Kirk Cousins still a logical target because of the economics of the Browns’ situation.

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• I’ll be really interested to see how Cousins handles the next couple of weeks. He doesn’t want to be in Atlanta, but the Falcons have said publicly that they want to have him back as the backup. From the team’s perspective, you’re talking about either walking away after a year with a $90 million sunk cost, or having him for two years at $100 million guaranteed. Which is something you have to work with ownership on.

That said, if they hit on Michael Penix Jr., then the rest won’t matter.

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• The position the Minnesota Vikings are in with Darnold is interesting, too. They’ve at least discussed the option to franchise tag him, either to keep him or to trade him—and Stafford’s decision to stay in L.A. should only further fuel Darnold’s market. Of course, tagging him at $40.242 million is risky in that it ups the floor for a potential long-term deal, and doesn’t ensure that a trade partner will be found.

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• We’ve mentioned Isaiah Bond as a potential combine winner—and Bond himself said he expects to break the combine 40-yard dash record, set last year by another Texas receiver (Xavier Worthy). Another guy to watch Saturday is Georgia’s Arian Smith, who ran a 10.10 100-meter dash for the Bulldogs’ track team, which is a borderline Olympic time.

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• A leftover note from the coaching carousel: Colorado defensive coordinator Robert Livingston made a real impression interviewing for the New Orleans Saints’ DC job. He didn’t get it, but the longtime NFL assistant, who spent 12 years in Cincinnati before going to work for Deion Sanders, made a real push for the position before Kellen Moore decided to go with clubhouse favorite Brandon Staley.