The Los Angeles Rams are expected to explore all avenues this summer after another 10-win season. Sean McVay can put just about any team in the playoffs, but LA has clearly reached its ceiling. The Rams are an older roster short on future assets, so tearing things down (and stockpiling draft picks via trade) is a logical next step.

Cooper Kupp has already been informed that his future lies elsewhere. Matthew Stafford is also on his way out the door, from the looks of it. There’s a chance both sides reconvene and hammer out an acceptable contract — that’s surely what Stafford would prefer over a late-career relocation — but the Rams don’t want to pay him $50 million-plus next season. Other teams in need of quarterback help just might.

Stafford is 37 and clearly on the downswing of his career, but few players are more universally respected around the league. The former Georgia Bulldogs star turned Super Bowl champ is something of a football genius. His ability to process the field and attack various coverages with split-second decisions is special. It helps when he’s also a top of the line arm talent, even if these later years.

There will be a front office (or several) convinced that Stafford has a couple more postseason runs in him. The Pittsburgh Steelers are perhaps the most obvious contender with a gaping void at quarterback. Arthur Smith has never worked with a signal-caller of Stafford’s caliber.

That said, if the Steelers get too squeamish over the Rams’ asking price and Stafford’s financial demands, it could prove costly. There’s a division foe lurking…

Browns join Steelers among teams interested in Matthew Stafford trade

More than four teams have expressed interest in Stafford, per Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. He specifically lists the Steelers, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, and Las Vegas Raiders, along with ambiguous “others.”

None of these teams should come as a shock — it’s not hard to pinpoint the franchises without stable quarterback rooms as potential Stafford destinations — but the Browns are at least a mild surprise. Cleveland has a quarterback on its roster, and an expensive one at that. Deshaun Watson is slated to make $46 million in each of the next two seasons, with a cap hit in excess of $72 million.

Watson is also recovering from his second straight Achilles tear, however, and could miss the entire 2025 campaign. That opens the door for the Browns to go shopping. It would be a bit unexpected for Cleveland to swing for the fences on another $50 million quarterback, but Stafford is the real deal. For a team struggling to appease Myles Garrett, to phrase it lightly, a high-profile QB upgrade might move mountains.

This is an exciting development for dejected Browns fans, but it’s also a nightmare possibility for the Steelers. Whiffing on Stafford is one thing. That organization seems to feel pretty good about Justin Fields and I’m convinced Mike Tomlin could put Zach Wilson in the playoffs if he has to. If Stafford ends up in the division, however, it complicates what is already an extremely difficult path to Super Bowl contention. The Steelers are up against Baltimore and Cincinnati in the AFC North, home to arguably football’s two best quarterbacks. If the Browns start to get good again, wins will be harder to come by. Not just in the regular season, but in the playoffs as well.

Cleveland has a lot to figure out, but that was an 11-win team a year ago. Stafford is a significant upgrade over Watson or Jameis Winston, so it’s not hard to imagine him leading the Browns to some sort of relevance.

This is a fire lit under Omar Khan’s chair. The Steelers absolutely cannot let Stafford get to Cleveland. It could mean the difference between a deep postseason run and another early flameout for the Steel City squad.