NFL: Los Angeles Rams GM Les Snead wants Matthew Stafford for the rest of his career
The Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams kicked off the NFL offseason with a massive trade. Los Angeles received Matthew Stafford from the Detroit Lions and the Lions received Jared Goff, a third-round pick in 2021, a first-round pick in 2022 and a first-round pick in 2023.
Los Angeles Rams general manager Led Snead is planning on keeping Stafford well into his late 30s. Stafford is already 33-years-old and the Rams want to keep him for another five to eight years. Snead doesn't plan on just keeping Matthew Stafford for a couple of years, as he has expressed that he wants the veteran quarterback to finish his career with the Rams.
NFL: What did Los Angeles Rams General Manager Les Snead have to say about Matthew Stafford
When Les Snead was asked about the trade that brought Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams, he had a vision of Drew Brees and Tom Brady. Snead said this about Stafford.
"I don't think we did thinking two years. Based on his age, you can legitimately think five to seven, eight years if you look at what Drew has done. I don't know if we're going to get into Tom Brady, right? Too many things going. But with quarterbacks of his pedigree, a lot of those guys have played into their late 30s, for sure. So that was definitely the vision with Matt."
Les Snead said the Los Angeles Rams did think about trading Jared Goff for draft picks in hopes of landing one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL Draft. Snead declined to go through because he felt that their championship window was getting close to closing. Here's what Les Snead had to say about the Matthew Stafford trade.
"To do a move of that magnitude involving quarterbacks, specifically involving Jared, there definitely needed to be a Matthew Stafford on the other end. We were not going to be stronger by moving Jared for a draft pick. That wasn't the case, and I think it did take somoene of Matt Stafford's pedigree, ability, experience, all thos things, skillset to make that move."
For the first time in Matthew Stafford's career he will have a top-five defense. The Lions had a great offense but their defense always seemed to let them down in the end. The Los Angeles Rams had one of the top defenses in the NFL in 2020 and are looking like they're on the right path to having a top-five defense again in 2021.
Stafford's Super Bowl window is also closing and he has about two to three elite years left in him. If the Rams want to win a Super Bowl, they'll need to do it within the next two years.