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- May 9, 2018
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Let’s review…
A few weeks ago, Mike Lombardi said: “before his option bonus was kicking in the Rams attempted with a lot of effort to move Matthew Stafford. Any team could've had him.” Literally nobody confirmed or corroborated this claim. Nonetheless, many in the web/media world repeated it as if it was worthy of credence.
About a week later, Colin Cowherd had a different story, as he stated: “I was told by a source I trust that [the Rams] wanted to re-do [Stafford’s] contract, he wasn’t interested, it limits what they can do and they were frustrated with him.”
The next to chime in was Rams Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Demoff. Regarding the Lombardi/trade rumor, he said this:
“I know there are reports that we tried to trade Matthew. We were not actively trying to trade Matthew... It would be naive to think that people didn’t inquire about what was going to happen with the player who the year before won the Super Bowl. It’s different than whether people inquire, whether there are casual conversations.”
Regarding Stafford’s contract, he said this:
"The part that frustrated me was this notion that we were trying to get away from the $59 million and that was the only way to do it through trade… Matthew’s dollars after 2022 were unguaranteed. We could’ve walked away this year, free and clear, for $0. No future money owed. So there was no need to restructure. If we wanted out of Matthew’s deal, we could’ve walked away. We didn’t have to trade him to relieve the $58.5 million.”
Stafford was then asked if the team had reached out regarding a possible renegotiation or restructuring of his contract, and he said the following: “They did, and I’ll keep all of that stuff, those kinds of conversations in-house. I’ll just leave it at that.”
Finally, back on the trade rumor, Sean McVay indicated that other teams made inquiries, but the team was in “unanimous agreement” that they wished to keep Stafford.
So, did Demoff lie, as many in the Twitter/blog/talking head media world are claiming?
Regarding the trade rumor, I’d say “no.” There is nothing that would indicate that Lombardi is right and that everyone else is lying. No big surprise, given Lombardi’s track record.
Regarding Stafford’s contract, did Demoff lie outright? Not really.
I’d say he was deliberately evasive, as he tried to answer the question in terms of getting out of Stafford’s deal, rather than a restructure. Demoff was not forthcoming on the restructure part. As to whether Cowherd’s source is correct that the Rams are “frustrated” with Stafford… I’d surmise that the answer is that it doesn’t really matter, as long as Stafford throws TD passes.
Of course, there are already headlines that indignantly charge Demoff and the Rams with sins and crimes ranging from contradiction to outright lying. Guess you have to be dramatic to get those clicks these days.
The truth is, and I know some fans don’t like to hear this… its really none of our business. We, as fans (and those who supply us with information) are not entitled to know everything that goes on behind closed doors. Indeed, it would be detrimental to any team to have its internal dialogues and communications with other teams divulged for public consideration and commentary.
So the Rams want to downplay their efforts to get some cap relief from Stafford, and Stafford acknowledged that it happened. Not all that shocking, is it?
That should be the least our worries this year.
A few weeks ago, Mike Lombardi said: “before his option bonus was kicking in the Rams attempted with a lot of effort to move Matthew Stafford. Any team could've had him.” Literally nobody confirmed or corroborated this claim. Nonetheless, many in the web/media world repeated it as if it was worthy of credence.
About a week later, Colin Cowherd had a different story, as he stated: “I was told by a source I trust that [the Rams] wanted to re-do [Stafford’s] contract, he wasn’t interested, it limits what they can do and they were frustrated with him.”
The next to chime in was Rams Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Demoff. Regarding the Lombardi/trade rumor, he said this:
“I know there are reports that we tried to trade Matthew. We were not actively trying to trade Matthew... It would be naive to think that people didn’t inquire about what was going to happen with the player who the year before won the Super Bowl. It’s different than whether people inquire, whether there are casual conversations.”
Regarding Stafford’s contract, he said this:
"The part that frustrated me was this notion that we were trying to get away from the $59 million and that was the only way to do it through trade… Matthew’s dollars after 2022 were unguaranteed. We could’ve walked away this year, free and clear, for $0. No future money owed. So there was no need to restructure. If we wanted out of Matthew’s deal, we could’ve walked away. We didn’t have to trade him to relieve the $58.5 million.”
Stafford was then asked if the team had reached out regarding a possible renegotiation or restructuring of his contract, and he said the following: “They did, and I’ll keep all of that stuff, those kinds of conversations in-house. I’ll just leave it at that.”
Finally, back on the trade rumor, Sean McVay indicated that other teams made inquiries, but the team was in “unanimous agreement” that they wished to keep Stafford.
So, did Demoff lie, as many in the Twitter/blog/talking head media world are claiming?
Regarding the trade rumor, I’d say “no.” There is nothing that would indicate that Lombardi is right and that everyone else is lying. No big surprise, given Lombardi’s track record.
Regarding Stafford’s contract, did Demoff lie outright? Not really.
I’d say he was deliberately evasive, as he tried to answer the question in terms of getting out of Stafford’s deal, rather than a restructure. Demoff was not forthcoming on the restructure part. As to whether Cowherd’s source is correct that the Rams are “frustrated” with Stafford… I’d surmise that the answer is that it doesn’t really matter, as long as Stafford throws TD passes.
Of course, there are already headlines that indignantly charge Demoff and the Rams with sins and crimes ranging from contradiction to outright lying. Guess you have to be dramatic to get those clicks these days.
The truth is, and I know some fans don’t like to hear this… its really none of our business. We, as fans (and those who supply us with information) are not entitled to know everything that goes on behind closed doors. Indeed, it would be detrimental to any team to have its internal dialogues and communications with other teams divulged for public consideration and commentary.
So the Rams want to downplay their efforts to get some cap relief from Stafford, and Stafford acknowledged that it happened. Not all that shocking, is it?
That should be the least our worries this year.
