{"id":270487,"date":"2026-03-26T12:00:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T16:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=270487"},"modified":"2026-03-26T07:25:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T11:25:04","slug":"the-l-a-rams-post-stafford-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/03\/26\/the-l-a-rams-post-stafford-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"The L.A. Rams\u2019 Post Stafford Plan?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Quarterback Matthew Stafford is coming off an MVP-caliber season. <a  href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/live\/ap-nfl-honors-awards-2026-updates\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">After taking home the award,<\/a> he confirmed that he will be back with the L.A. Rams for 2026. Because of that, the urgency to find an immediate replacement has cooled, but it should not vanish.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stafford is 38 years old. However, the Rams are not currently acting with desperation regarding a successor. But the plan for 2026 and beyond is a mix of veteran stability and potential draft developmental pieces.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But what exactly is the plan moving forward if Stafford leaves after 2026?<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The L.A. Rams &#8216;Hollywood&#8217; Blueprint After Stafford<\/h3>\n<h4>Short-Term Insurance<\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/03\/15\/rebuilding-titans-shopping-former-second-round-pick-3-possible-suitors\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Stetson Bennett<\/a> is currently the most tenured backup in head coach Sean McVay\u2019s system.<a  href=\"https:\/\/ugawire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/college\/bulldogs\/football\/2026\/03\/24\/stetson-bennett-georgia-los-angeles-rams-lingering-weakness\/89299401007\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> While there has been debate about his ceiling,<\/a> the front office has praised his growth over the 2025 NFL season. He is currently positioned as the primary internal backup.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/02\/02\/jimmy-garoppolo-free-agent-landing-spots-ranked\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Jimmy Garoppolo<\/a> served as the primary backup for the L.A. Rams during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.<a  href=\"https:\/\/nfltraderumors.co\/nfc-notes-jimmy-garoppolo-contracts-draft-visits-cardinals-rams-seahawks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> As of March 2026, he is a free agent.<\/a> But there are rumors he may sign elsewhere (with teams like the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/cardinals\/\" target=\"_self\">Arizona Cardinals<\/a> needing a quarterback). This would leave a significant hole in the veteran safety net role.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>The Bridge Blueprint<\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Rams have a history of bringing in high-floor veterans to stabilize the room. Names currently being floated around the league circles as potential \u2018reclamation\u2019 projects if Stafford were to retire after 2026 include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/12\/18\/baker-mayfield-reaffirms-blame-for-loss-against-falcons\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Baker Mayfield<\/a>: A reunion has been theorized if he does not reach an extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before his contract expires in 2027.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021\/09\/28\/nfl-rumors-tom-brady-ronnie-stanley-davis-mills\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Davis Mills<\/a>: Some journalists have suggested the Rams trade for the Texans\u2019 backup to provide a more reliable veteran presence than Bennett.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/04\/22\/breaking-news-jets-trade-zach-wilson-to-broncos-with-pick-swap\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Zach Wilson<\/a>: He has been linked to the Rams due to his connection with current Rams quarterback coach Dave Canales from their time in New York.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>The 2026 Draft Plan<\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">L.A. Rams general manager Les Snead has indicated that while they are not desperate, they are scouting the next chapter. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/03\/04\/rams-are-the-best-in-the-draft-and-they-prove-it-every-year\/\" target=\"_self\">The Rams hold the 13th overall pick (acquired by Atlanta) and the 61st overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many mock drafts have the Rams looking at mid to late round developmental prospects like Arkansas quarterback<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/09\/16\/4-offensive-nfl-draft-risers-from-week-3\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"> Taylen Green<\/a> and North Dakota State passer <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/02\/18\/pittsburgh-steelers-pre-free-agency-2026-nfl-mock-draft\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Cole Payton<\/a>, rather than burning a first-round pick on a quarterback while Stafford is still playing at an elite level.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>Reflection<\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/03\/21\/rams-five-best-players-heading-into-next-season\/\" target=\"_self\">Either way, the Rams must be ready.<\/a> Stafford could have a significant injury or have an inconsistent year. When that happens, expect the phones to be ringing a little bit more than normal. The Rams are keeping this in the back of their mind that their MVP cannot keep playing forever.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>QB Matthew Stafford is 38 years old. See if the Rams have an elite plan post-2026 for a new leader at quarterback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5783,"featured_media":262736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6431,34],"tags":[33533,33883,3418,34331,7902,5689,404,9711,34334,7201],"class_list":["post-270487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-teams","category-rams","tag-2026-nfl-draft","tag-2026-nfl-free-agency","tag-baker-mayfield","tag-cole-payton","tag-davis-mills","tag-jimmy-garappolo","tag-matthew-stafford","tag-stetson-bennett","tag-taylen-green","tag-zach-wilson"],"modified_by":"Sue Levine","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5783"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270487"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":270497,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270487\/revisions\/270497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}