What should Vikings fans make of the Matthew Stafford rumors?

Social media believes Minnesota intends to trade for the Rams quarterback.

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) throws a pass against the Las Vegas Raiders in the first half at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., on Oct. 20, 2024. / Alex Gallardo-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings will get a good look at Matthew Stafford when they take on the Los Angeles Rams Thursday night at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., and there’s a large contingent on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, who believe that could be an audition with a potential trade brewing for the quarterback.

Unsubstantiated rumors have been circulating that the Vikings are interested in trading for Stafford before the deadline as they look to make a playoff push, and potentially a run at a Super Bowl. That may sound ridiculous, and it almost certainly is, but even some prominent NFL media folks have been talking about Stafford suiting up for the purple and gold.

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Rumors: The #Vikings and #Rams are in serious trade talks for QB Matthew Stafford, per @jacksettleman

That would be INSANE. pic.twitter.com/cszR5ngxm0

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 22, 2024

Among those discussing the rumors was Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, who made an appearance on KFXN-FM 100.3 with Paul Allen on Wednesday and suggested that the Vikings trading for Stafford could be a good idea.

“If you could swap out Matthew Stafford for Sam Darnold right now, does that improve the Vikings’ fortunes for the 2024 season?” Florio asked Allen. “I think the answer is yes, and I’m willing to entertain the argument to be made by anyone who would say the answer is no.” 

Stafford is a Super Bowl-winning quarterback with a resume no one would question, and he likely would be an upgrade from Darnold, but would that trade actually make sense? Only if you're spending too much time on X.

Never mind the Vikings decided to move on from Kirk Cousins because they wanted to be off the hook from a big quarterback contract — Stafford carries a $46 million cap hit this season, according to spotrac.com. Never mind they drafted J.J. McCarthy, who they've explicitly declared as their quarterback of the future. Never mind Darnold is in the midst of the best year of his career having thrown for 1,370 yards, 12 touchdowns and just five picks.

None of that matters if you're among the large contingent on X convinced the Vikings will trade for Stafford.

Not to mention, the Vikings would also likely have to move on from more than just Darnold if they were to trade for Stafford. While the Rams would still be on the hook for $12 million signing bonus on both his $46 million cap hit this season and his $54 million cap hit this season, the Vikings are likely still responsible for about $30 million per year.

So if the Vikings wanted to trade for an aging quarterback with a huge contract after moving on from an aging quarterback with a huge contract, they'd have to free up some space. They have about $14 million in cap space, per spotrac.com, and Darnold carries a cap hit of just $5 million. That leaves about $11 million they'd need to free up.

That's not impossible, but the Vikings do only have two players on the roster that currently carry a cap hit of over $10 million, those being right tackle Brian O'Neill ($23 million) and cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. ($11 million).

The trade is possible with some sort of package and picks, but after building up a strong roster with significant cap flexibility and their stated quarterback of the future in waiting, would the Vikings really be wise to turn toward an aging quarterback with a huge contract so quickly after moving on from an aging quarterback with a huge contract?

It can be fun to buy into the rumors, but don’t expect Stafford in a Vikings jersey in the near future.