“Get Your As* Whooped For 2 Years?”: Chris Simms Doesn’t See Matthew Stafford Going To Browns, Raiders, or Giants

Matthew Stafford just turned 37 earlier this month. That means he’s on the back nine of his NFL career—but it certainly does not mean that he’s done playing quality ball. Believe it or not, there have been 18 different NFL QBs to have earned a Pro Bowl nod at the age of 37 or older. Tom Brady did it a whopping six times, Drew Brees and Warren Moon accomplished it four times, Brett Favre did it thrice, and John Elway, Peyton Manning, and Aaron Rodgers all did it twice.

That puts this whole “Matthew Stafford sweepstakes” situation into perspective. The guy can still play. And elite quarterbacks have shown an ability to remain productive deep into their 30s, especially over the last 20 years. Wherever he plays, Stafford will bring a Pro Bowl, Super Bowl-winning pedigree. The only question is, where will he land in 2025?

There have been many teams broached as possible trade partners for the Los Angeles Rams, who are still trying to work out an extension of their own with Stafford. Unfortunately for the veteran QB, many of the teams put out there as destinations for him this offseason are about as far as you can get from win-now mode. Chris Simms believes there’s no chance he goes to a rebuilding team like the Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, or Las Vegas Raiders, all of whom have been put forth as possible landing spots.

“Of course the Browns, the Raiders, and the Giants are [interested]. They don’t have QBs and they’re in a bad situation… Why the hell would Matthew Stafford want to go to those three teams to end his career? The Steelers make sense… You wanna go there and what? Have a bad end to your career? And get your ass whooped for two years in a row?… I still think this is posturing by both sides about a bottom line number that can’t be agreed on.”

Simms is 100 percent correct. If Stafford still wants to win and continue building his late NFL legacy, he will have no desire to go to Cleveland, Vegas, or New York at this point in his career. And while he does not have a no-trade clause in his contract, we believe the Rams will do right by the guy who came in and brought them a Lombardi in his first year there. The only issue now is Stafford’s wild self-evaluation.

Matthew Stafford’s salary demands could impede a trade

However, it is worth noting that Matthew Stafford has already won a Super Bowl. He’s not one of those guys chasing his first. So is it possible that money has overtaken the chance to win as his most important factor? That very well could be the case. Stafford isn’t looking to take a pay cut just because he’s 37. In fact, he’s looking for a massive pay raise.

His last contract paid him $40 million a year. Now, according to Peter Schrager, he wants to join the $50 million-a-year club alongside the likes of Jordan Love, Tua Tagovailoa, and Trevor Lawrence. It’d be hard to argue he hasn’t done enough to prove he should be valued as highly as that underachieving trio. Especially if the deal is only for two or three years.

In the end, as Simms pointed out, the Pittsburgh Steelers seem like the only realistic trade destination if Stafford does want to go to a win-now program. The only question would be the trade package. If it’s a 1st-rounder this year and a 1st or 2nd in 2026, that’s doable. It’s if L.A. starts pushing for an additional 1st round pick that the trade could get “bogged down” as ESPN’s Adam Schefter recently reported. Steelers GM Omar Khan has been willing to take risks, but one that big?

The most likely scenario is just what Simms said: that both Stafford and the Rams front office are putting out these stories about possible trades to try to push for a better deal for their respective side. It’s posturing and pretense.

Either way, we’re going to get a resolution on this soon. Dan Graziano reports that the Rams want to come to a decision on Stafford by the time the NFL Scouting Combine (which is this weekend) wraps up.