Matthew Stafford rumors: Do the Los Angeles Rams really intend to trade him?

Rams’ coach Sean McVay says the team wants to keep him, but that it’s complicated

Do the Los Angeles Rams want Matthew Stafford to continue being their quarterback or not? Rams coach Sean McVay made it clear this week that the team’s preference is for Stafford to stay.

“When you talk about the elephant in the room, these are the things that are really challenging,” McVay said on the Fitz & Whit podcast. “Because there’s no discrepancy on us wanting him to continue to lead the way and be our quarterback. The interesting and the challenging dilemma and dynamics within this are, hey, how do you continuously as a head coach look at the short term and the long term and be able to figure out what does that really look like?

“There is no dispute, and let’s not get it twisted in regards to anybody wanting him to be our quarterback. Now, there’s layers to it. You have to be able to say, hey, how do we continuously build? How do we support him? How do we make sure that he’s getting what is his worth relative to those things? So, at the end of the day, we had something in mind, he had something in mind, and nobody was right or wrong. And then ultimately you’re saying there’s a ton of interest because this guy is an incredible player.”

The Rams and the 37-year-old Stafford are in a delicate contract dance. The team recently gave Stafford permission to speak with other teams to gauge his market value.

A report from NJ.com (subscriber only) indicated the Giants are “hellbent” on acquiring Stafford to solve their short-term quarterback problem. The New York Post reported that Stafford’s representatives met with the Giants on Tuesday night at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

Giants GM Joe Schoen indicated on Tuesday that he wants to acquire “Whoever gives us the best chance to win right now” to play quarterback.

That, obviously, would be Stafford.

In Indianapolis, there are many who believe that Stafford will ultimately become a Giant. There are many, though, who don’t understand why the Rams would trade their quarterback when they are a contending team, or why Stafford would want to come to a team that won three games a season ago.

NFL free agency starts in two weeks. Most likely, the Stafford question will be answered by then.