With Rams GM hinting at QB search, Aaron to L.A. seems possible
es is more.
That’s what Rams GM Les Snead hunting for a new quarterback means: more.
It means this offseason’s NFL quarterback frenzy just ratcheted up from nine to 10.
Deshaun Watson’s wanting out of Houston sent the meter directly to an eight. Aaron Rodgers’ discontent in Green Bay pushed it to a nine on Sunday night.
But Snead’s refusal to commit to Jared Goff on Tuesday, invoking a recent Rodgers quote in the process, sent this to another entire level of drama.
Here was Rodgers talking about his own future on Jan. 20: “My future is a beautiful mystery.”
Here was Snead talking about Jared Goff’s future on Tuesday: “Jared Goff is a Ram at this moment. It’s way too early to speculate [on] the future. That’s a beautiful mystery.”
You’d have to have the Zoom call muted not to hear Snead’s more than subliminal overture toward Rodgers in that quote.
Snead is arguably the NFL’s boldest and most aggressive GM.
He is not perfect, as evidenced by the four-year, $134 million extension he gave to Goff in Sept. 2019 that now hangs like an albatross around his and coach Sean McVay’s necks.
But Snead does not let past mistakes dictate his future, and he is significantly more comfortable with risk and drastic measures than most of his peer GMs around the league.
He is a high roller whose presence ups the ante on the NFL’s 2021 quarterback sweepstakes that includes Rodgers, Watson and Matthew Stafford among the potential A-list options.
As far as Goff goes, Snead has proven that he isn’t afraid to bail on players after signing them to big contracts.
Snead signed wideout Brandin Cooks to a five-year, $81 million contract after acquiring him from New England in 2018, then traded Cooks to Houston a year later and ate a $21.8 million dead cap hit in 2019 to do it.
Snead also signed running back Todd Gurley to a four-year, $60 million extension in 2018 and then cut him in 2020 before Gurley even played a single season on the extension. The Rams ate $11.75 million over two seasons to part from Gurley.
Snead can’t cut Goff in 2021 because that would throw an unsustainable $65 million dead cap hit on the Rams’ already tight salary cap. But Snead could trade Goff and eat only $22.2 million in 2021, almost $13 million less than Goff’s $34.9 million cap hit if he remains on the roster.
So that is the route the Rams have to pursue, and it seems their efforts to find a buyer are already underway. Clearly, the Rams and Goff, 26, are on the outs.
First it became clear that backup John Wolford’s Wild Card playoff start in Seattle was McVay’s decision, and that Goff had insisted he could start with a broken thumb and wasn’t pleased.
Then there was an NFL Network report last week that the relationship between McVay and Goff had soured. Then McVay and Snead both refused to commit to Goff in recent press conferences.
Then on Wednesday, an NFL Network report said that if Goff and Wolford return as the Rams’ quarterbacks for training camp next summer, there could be an open competition for the starting job.
That smells like the Rams trying to convince Goff that he should want a trade out of town, too.
Could Snead convince a quarterback needy team with cap space like the Indianapolis Colts to trade for Goff, then turn his attention to a blockbuster for Rodgers?
It’s not out of the question. And it’s impossible to discount Snead trying to pull off something big given his history.
Snead is the one who acquired a boatload of picks from Washington in 2012 to give up the then-St. Louis Rams’ No. 2 overall pick so Washington could draft Robert Griffin III.
In 2016, Snead then sold the farm to trade up from No. 15 and draft Goff No. 1 overall. Snead surrendered six total picks in the deal: two firsts, two second-rounders, and two thirds.
Snead, if you can believe it, has not made a first-round pick in any of the four NFL Drafts since. That’s because he traded most of them to go all-in for difference making players.
In 2018, his aggressiveness got the Rams to the Super Bowl. He and the Rams discussed a possible trade for Odell Beckham Jr. with the Giants. When that didn’t happen, Snead traded his first-rounder to New England for Brandin Cooks.
He traded Robert Quinn and Alec Ogletree out of town for assets. He dealt a second-rounder to the Chiefs for corner Marcus Peters. He signed Ndamukong Suh in free agency.
He sent a fifth to Denver for Aqib Talib. He shipped a third and a fifth midseason to the Jaguars for Dante Fowler. And the Rams reached the Super Bowl before losing, 13-3, to Tom Brady’s Patriots.
In 2019, Snead traded out of the first round to acquire more picks. Then in Oct. 2019, he gave up the Rams’ first round picks in 2020 and 2021, plus a 2021 fourth-rounder, to get Jalen Ramsey from the Jaguars.
The Rams’ 2020 defense finished No. 1 in points (18.5) and yards (281.9) allowed per game, carrying the team to a 10-6 record and a playoff berth.
Maybe Snead won’t be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat here and fix his quarterback situation overnight for the 2021 season.
Maybe he won’t find a taker for Goff. Maybe he won’t be able to land a big fish like Rodgers.
But Snead’s history tells us that he’ll try, and he won’t just dabble — he’ll swing for the fences.