The Matthew Stafford Trade Saga is officially reaching its witching hour. The New York Giants have been pursuing the Los Angeles Rams’ quarterback for weeks now, but they are not the only ones. The Las Vegas Raiders are also heavily pursuing Stafford and, at this point in the race, they seem to be leading.
The Giants are reportedly underdogs to land Matthew Stafford
According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, the Giants are “underdogs” to land Stafford in a trade as they bid against the Raiders:
“The prevailing thought around the league over the past 24 hours is that the Giants are underdogs for Matthew Stafford,” Raanan posted on X. “Not for a lack of effort.”
Both the Giants and the Raiders have met with Stafford’s agents to negotiate a contract. Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports that Las Vegas and New York have both discussed a two-year contract for Stafford that includes $90-100 million guaranteed.
Such a deal is agreeable for Stafford, but the Rams must decide whether or not they will match that deal. And if they opt not to make such an offer, then Stafford could be traded to the team offering the best compensation for the Rams.
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If the Giants do miss out on Stafford, they will need to pivot in a new direction. Picking No. 3 in the draft, they are positioned to likely land one of the class’s top two quarterback prospects. However, a potential trade up to the first-overall pick can’t be ruled out either. Such a move would allow the Giants to pick the quarterback they prefer, rather than taking the one that falls in their lap. In this case, general manager Joe Schoen would probably prefer to be proactive than reactive in the search for a franchise quarterback — hence his heavy pursuit of Stafford.
