The Los Angeles Rams are reportedly considering the prospect of adding another quarterback to serve as backup to Matthew Stafford in their pursuit of Super Bowl glory.
Sean McVay and the Rams drafted Alabama signal caller Ty Simpson with the No. 13 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft.
It was a move that raised plenty of eyebrows, given Stafford was last season’s MVP, and the Rams gave up the chance to draft a premium player at another position that could have elevated them from Super Bowl contenders to favorites.
They already had Stetson Bennett in the quarterback room but the former Georgia Bulldog and two-time college national champion served as third choice last season behind Stafford and Jimmy Garoppolo.
But with Garoppolo seriously considering retirement, a void has seemingly appeared in the Rams’ quarterback ranks.
And, according to The Athletic, there is uncertainty whether Simpson or Bennett can cement themselves as the team’s No. 2 ahead of the new season.
The Rams drafted Ty Simpson with the No. 13 pick but there fears he may not be ready
Stetson Bennett has yet to prove he can go from third choice to be Matthew Stafford’s backup
Sean McVay’s Rams team is one of the leading contenders to win the Super Bowl next year
With such a strong roster at McVay’s disposal, expectations are high that the Rams can win the Super Bowl at their own SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on February 14.
The team showed they are going all in when they traded for Myles Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and the NFL’s single-season sack record holder, in May from the Cleveland Browns.
McVay may not want to go into the season with very little experience behind Stafford, who has needed to take time off recently as he deals with back problems.
One potential option could be Mac Jones after reports emerged earlier this week that the San Francisco 49ers could have to trade him away.
Jones, 27, deputized for injured starter Brock Purdy for eight games last season and the team went 5-3 in that time. He is a hugely popular figure in the Niners locker room but is entering the second season of his two-year contract with the team.
They told him that a move before April’s draft was possible for a big asking price and if it wasn’t met, Jones would stay. While that offer never materialized, it has now been claimed that the emergence of another quarterback has made San Francisco think again.
The team drafted Kurtis Rourke in the seventh round of 2025 but he missed all of his rookie season with a torn ACL sustained in his final college season with the Indiana Hoosiers.
And the man who was succeeded by Fernando Mendoza at college level has been impressing his coaches so much in the early days of practice that they are thinking again about dealing Jones, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Stafford, pictured with his family earlier this month, was crowned NFL MVP last season
Last season’s backup, Jimmy Garoppolo, could yet decide to put his retirement on hold
It is still possible that Garoppolo could put retirement off another year and re-sign with the Rams in the hope he can win another Super Bowl. He won two with the Patriots as Tom Brady’s backup.
The 34-year-old has been Stafford’s backup for the past two seasons after spending the previous decade in New England, San Francisco – where he led the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance and two NFC title games – and Las Vegas.
Garoppolo has played only 84 snaps for the Rams, with 66 of those in the 2024-25 regular-season finale when Stafford rested.
He hasn’t yet landed with another team to compete for a starting job and Rams general manager Les Snead acknowledged in April the quarterback is considering all of his options.
‘Jimmy has always been priority No. 1 for the backup, so we´re letting him go through his process,’ Snead said before the NFL Draft. ‘And then from there, we go to the next steps.’
