Rams must have wanted the moon for Matthew Stafford
The Las Vegas Raiders didn’t intend to trade for Geno Smith as of a couple of weeks ago because they were confident that they would be able to trade for Matthew Stafford. That’s according to John Schneider, the general manager of the Seattle Seahawks who just traded Geno Smith to the Raiders, so it is a pretty solid source.
According to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times, Schneider wasn’t talking to Pete Carroll (Seahawks former head coach) about Smith when the two were seen talking to each other before the NFL Scouting Combine because per Schneider, Pete “thought (the Raiders) were getting Matthew Stafford at that point.”
Stafford ended up staying with the Rams instead of accepting a deal and trade to go to Las Vegas.
John Schneider on if Pete Carroll was lobbying to get Geno Smith when the two talked on the plane from Seattle to the combine: “Not at that point. I think they thought they were getting Matthew Stafford at that point.”
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) March 13, 2025
The question for Rams fans is, “How close were Les Snead and Sean McVay to actually accepting the Raiders offer for Stafford?”
Apparently not very close.
If the Raiders had a contractual offer and a trade offer considered to be good enough to get Stafford, then obviously there was not a hold on up L.A.’s end. The only hold up would have been that the Rams never had any intention to trade Stafford, and Stafford had little intention to leave the Rams.
Maybe the only offers good enough to the Rams were a first round draft pick (which in LV’s case would be sixth overall) and the only thing good enough for Stafford would have been an absurd overpay and maybe the Catch-22 that the Raiders keep their top-10 draft pick. After all, the Raider still don’t have anyone for Stafford or new quarterback Smith to throw to:
Jakobi Meyers and Tre Tucker are the top two receivers on the team for now, as well as tight end Brock Bowers. Notably, Pete Carroll’s teams have always struggled to feature an elite receiving tight end.
Stafford is staying in L.A. and he has former Raiders receiver Davante Adams as a complementary weapon to Puka Nacua. How close was that to not happening? Close to the Raiders…Not very close to the Rams.
