One NFL insider is already warning Los Angeles Rams fans that they could be watching Jimmy Garoppolo, not Matthew Stafford, start at quarterback this season.
Although the Rams expect to have Stafford for Week 1, ESPN's Dan Graziano listed his ‘Don't be surprised if…' for L.A. as Garoppolo having to step in for Stafford this year.
“The Rams believe starting QB Matthew Stafford is on track to be healthy and start Week 1 after struggling throughout camp with a back injury that stubbornly refused to follow his or the team's recovery timetable,” Graziano wrote. “But Stafford is 37 years old and has dealt with back issues in the past. (To his credit, he has found ways to play through them.) My understanding is that this isn't something the Rams expect to sideline Stafford for a long period of time or affect his play early in the season, but that it is something that will need to be monitored and managed throughout the season.
“That means there could come a week when Stafford feels he can't play through it. And that's where you could see backup Garoppolo — who started one game last season — having to step in and keep things humming. Again, I expect Stafford to tough this out and make it through the season; this Rams team has him convinced he can win another Super Bowl before he's done. But it might not always be the smoothest process.”
Matthew Stafford health a risk for Rams in 2025
Since being traded to the Rams by the Detroit Lions before the 2021 season, Stafford played all 17 regular-season games, plus four playoff games, en route to a Super Bowl title. The following season, after undergoing elbow surgery in the offseason, Stafford was limited to just nine games as he dealt with concussions and a season-ending spinal cord contusion.
Stafford returned for the 2023 season, playing all but one game (due to a sprained UCL) aside from sitting out the season finale. This past season, he managed to make it through the year without serious injury, only sitting out the final week of the season before the playoffs.
There was some thought that Stafford, one of the oldest quarterbacks in the NFL, would leave the team in the offseason, but he and the Rams worked out a restructured deal that will pay him $84 million over the next two seasons. However, if he is released or traded before June 1 next year, the dead cap figure will be $41.9 million. If the Rams wait until after June 1 to trade or release him, L.A. will be on the hook for $27.5 million in 2026 and $14.4 million in 2027 in dead cap.
As Stafford's backup, Garoppolo, a former starter with the San Francisco 49ers and Las Vegas Raiders, appeared in and started just one game last year for the Rams. He served a two-game performance-enhancing drug suspension at the beginning of the season.
