The longer that the Los Angeles Rams are without Matthew Stafford, the more there will be speculation in the media that they should make a trade for a quarterback. This is a team on the cusp of a Super Bowl and losing a year because the starting quarterback is hurt would be a tough pill to swallow.
It’s a problem the Rams haven’t had to face in quite some time. While they weren’t Super Bowl contenders, some would have considered the Rams playoff contenders in 2013 and 2014 when Sam Bradford tore his
ACL. In those years, they ended up having to rely on Kellen Clemens, Shaun Hill, and Austin Davis. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Rams handled it the same way and relied on Jimmy Garoppolo if they had to.
Still, given how active the Rams have been on the trade market in recent years, they are always going to get brought up. However, at this point in the offseason, finding a quarterback isn’t easy. That ship has mostly sailed. There may be some that bring up players like Daniel Jones or Zach Wilson who have the tools and are young enough to be developed into ‘the next guy’ if needed. However, the quarterback that will likely get connected to the Rams the most is Kirk Cousins.
The connection for Cousins to the Rams is obvious. Cousins got his first full season as the starter in 2015 with McVay as the offensive coordinator and then threw for 4,900 yards with 25 touchdown passes in 2016. To put it simply, Cousins was a McVay guy. Over the last three seasons, Cousins has played in the same offense with Kevin O’Connell in 2022 and 2023 and then Zac Robinson last year. Both O’Connell and Robinson are former Rams offensive coaches and McVay disciples.
Let’s say that the Rams are able to make it work financially. It’s naive to say that it doesn’t make sense to some extent. At the same time, at this point in Cousins’ career, it’s fair to question whether he offers much more than Garoppolo. In the NFL, there are a few different types of quarterbacks. There are the quarterbacks that teams win with, quarterbacks teams win because of, and quarterbacks teams win in spite of. Both Cousins and Garoppolo likely fit in the “quarterbacks you win with” category. They’re the same guy. Both can keep the offense on track, but they are likely to make back-breaking decisions in big moments.
Even if Cousins is better, the question needs to be asked, how much better? Is that gap worth taking on a chunk of Cousins’ contract and giving up draft capital? The answer there is likely no. This is also a quarterback with an Achilles injury history who, combined with an elbow issue last year, lost much of his throwing power.
It’s fair to say that Cousins got more comfortable driving off of his right leg after the first few weeks. There was a stretch in which the Falcons went 5-1 and Cousins threw 14 touchdowns to four interceptions. Still he ranked just 14th in success rate. Additionally, in four of the five wins, the Falcons played the 26th ranked pass defense in EPA twice, the 31st ranked pass defense, and the 27th ranked pass defense. Following that stretch, Cousins finished his season throwing one touchdown to nine interceptions.
Cousins is way too much of a risk at this point for what he would cost. The Rams also invested in the backup quarterback position and have Garoppolo for a reason. While he may not be someone you want to see for 17 games, he can certainly keep the ship afloat over a four to six game period if needed.
It’s easy to be down on Garoppolo given how his last experience as a starter went. However, even with the Raiders, Garoppolo managed to be one of the more efficient quarterbacks. The Raiders were 3-3 with Garoppolo as their starter and through the first six weeks he ranked 13th in EPA per dropback and was eighth in success rate.
During his final year as a starter in 2022 with the 49ers, Garoppolo was still sixth in dropback EPA and eighth in success rate. That’s much closer to the offensive infrastructure that Garoppolo would have with the Rams which does bring some optimism. Again, the Rams signed Garoppolo and opted to bring him back for a reason. After the Brett Rypien experience in 2022, the Rams realized how important the backup quarterback position is and Garoppolo remains one of the best in the NFL. An argument could be made that he still starts for a handful of teams.
This isn’t to say that Garoppolo is going to lead the Rams to the Super Bowl by any means. While he remains the efficient quarterback that he’s always been, he also still has the same limitations. This is a quarterback that isn’t going to escape pressure or hit the same high-upside throws as Stafford. He’s also going to make 2-3 throws per game that give the defense a chance. Garoppolo may not have the ceiling that Stafford does, but he gives the offense a pretty high floor.
At the very least, the Rams have a lesser version of what they had in 2017 with Jared Goff. They have a quarterback that can execute the offense as intended, excels in play action, and can distribute the ball to the playmakers.
It’s true that Garoppolo led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2019, but he’s aged five years since then and had a foot surgery. That 49ers team was also built for Garoppolo to be along for the ride while this Rams team is built to go only as far as Matthew Stafford takes them.
Ideally, Stafford is fine for Week 1 and beyond. With that said, it’s fair to think that the Rams could rely on Garoppolo at some point this season given Stafford’s current back situation. If it does come to that, the Rams shouldn’t feel the need to panic and trade for a quarterback like Cousins with Garoppolo already in the fold.
