Stafford has some serious chinks and dings in his armor. Time to be proactive again and grab Mayfield while he's here and available. I will always be grateful to Stafford for his Lombardi and yes he and Cooper with AD sealing the deal brought that one home to LA. The 3 superstars got it done. But anyone who thinks Matt will play out his contract is kidding themselves. I keep pointing back to his contract structure. The Rams saw 2025 as his last year when they wrote the contract. Every year after 2023 is a year where the team has an "out".
The Rams lucked into a successor QB in Mayfield. Snead must be proactive. Mayfield stays as a backup in 2023 if he knows he's the starter in 2024. Give him a full year to become fully versed in McVay's offense, and with the WRs and he can hit the field running in 2024. There is no guarantee that Stafford can finish 2023. Spinal contusions normally take almost a full 12 months to heal, so for Stafford to return is pushing the envelope. His tendonitis will always be a potential problem, it's called getting old. I wish I could still backpack the backcountry but arthritis in my him tells me those days are done. It really affected his deep throws last season. Contractually they need to play Stafford, but to not be proactive about the QB position even this year and certainly going forward starting in 2024 is IMO a reality. Sign Mayfield an they will kick the SB window wide open for years.
Snead also needs to be proactive about the HC. Yes, Sean might stay 10 more years or he might walk in 2 or 3. Time to begin to groom Brown or someone else for the position to backstop McVay. This year needs to be a wake up call in regard to both the QB and HC positions.