Kevin Demoff doth protest too much.
The recent comments from the Rams COO, in which he expresses frustration over chatter about a potential offseason trade of quarterback Matthew Stafford, seem a little too strong — and a little too implausible.
As to the question of whether the Rams had hoped to get a viable trade offer before another $57 million became fully guaranteed for Stafford on March 17, Demoff shrugged and said that, if the Rams wanted to avoid the obligation, they would have simply cut Stafford.
Yeah, right.
They would have cut Stafford, two years after giving up two first-round picks, a third-round pick, and Jared Goff to get him? They would have cut Stafford, a year after winning a Super Bowl with him? They would have cut Stafford, a year after giving him an ill-advised contract that paid out $120 million fully guaranteed by the middle of March 2023?
They wouldn’t have done it. It would have made them look stupid, in multiple ways. There was one way to save face on their rash decision to give a descending quarterback that much money — wait and hope for a phone call from another team.
As we heard it, the Rams had their fingers crossed for the Jets to make a play for Stafford. The Jets didn’t. No one else did.
The fact that Demoff admitted to having “casual conversations” about a possible trade speaks volumes. If the Rams were truly committed to Stafford, they would have hung up the phone. The way the Chiefs would for Patrick Mahomes, the Bills would for Josh Allen, the Bengals would for Joe Burrow, and the Eagles would for Jalen Hurts.
Demoff is saying what he’s saying now because he has to say it. They’ve allowed the guarantees to vest. They have to love the one they’re with.
As one league source suggested on Wednesday, the Rams should be hoping that Stafford decides in lieu of getting banged around again in 2023 to retire, with some sort of a settlement as to his $48 million in paid but unearned signing bonus money, and with a full refund of his $26 million option bonus.
That’s not likely to happen. Stafford has no reason to give up that kind of money, and he has no history of shying away from the pounding that playing football inflicts upon him.
Regardless, we reject Demoff’s comments as predictable, self-serving, and unrealistic. They wouldn’t have cut him. They would have traded him, if they had gotten the kind of offer that would have allowed them to move on without looking stupid for sending so much to Detroit to get him and then for giving him $63 million for only one more year of football.