The Los Angeles Rams enter the 2025 season looking for their third straight playoff bid and seventh in the 10 seasons since they moved back to Southern California after two decades in St. Louis â two decades that the Los Angeles area went without an NFL team at all. The Rams played in Anaheim, about an hour south of Los Angeles from 1980 until the 1995 season when they relocated to St. Louis.
The latest version of the Rams, who play in Inglewood just south of the Los Angeles city limits, have brought winning football back to the region, with two Super Bowl Appearances since coming back there in 2016, including a championship in 2021.
But in 2025 they face perhaps more uncertainty than in any other year in their current Los Angeles stint, due to an unsettled quarterback situation. They agreed to a new deal with 37-year-old, 16-year-veteran Matthew Stafford in February, but as of this week the future Hall of Fame signal caller’s contract remains unsigned.
Behind Stafford, the Rams have Stetson Bennett, another former Georgia quarterback like Stafford, but one who has yet to play a single NFL down since he was drafted in the fourth round by the Rams in 2023.
Veteran Garoppolo is Rams’ Only Stafford Insurance
And then there is Jimmy Garoppolo, who started his career as a second-round draft pick of the New England Patriots in 2014. But New England stuck him behind Tom Brady until trading Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers in 2017. In San Francisco, “Jimmy G” briefly became the highest paid quarterback in NFL history with a five-year, $137.5 million contract in 2018.
But he spent much of his stint in San Francisco recuperating from various injuries. In his only two full seasons, 2019 when he played 16 games and 2021 when he played 15, he led the ‘Niners to the Super Bowl and NFC championship game, respectively. Now Garoppolo at age 33 is Stafford’s primary backup on the Rams, on a one-year, $3 million contract.
Is Garoppolo, who played just one game for the Rams in 2024, enough? According to a report by NFL scribes Mark Daniels and Karen Guregian of MassLive, the Patriots have another backup quarterback on the trade market â one who has three years left on his $4.2 million rookie contract, making him cheaper even than Bennett.
Joe Milton Reported to be On Trade Block
“According to multiple sources, the Patriots have received multiple trade inquiries for young quarterback Joe Milton III,” the MassLive reporters revealed on Tuesday. “It remains to be seen if the Patriots will ultimately deal Milton. However, there does seem to be motivation on the playerâs side to be moved.”
According to USA Today reporter Ali Jawad of RamsWire, the Rams should be one of those teams inquiring about Milton, who, though rough around the edges, is undoubtedly one of the most elite pure athletes ever to play quarterback in the NFL.
“Should general manager Les Snead want to make things more interesting amongst the (Rams quarterback) group, one name that has floated around the league is Patriots backup QB Joe Milton III,” Jawad wrote on Tuesday. “Despite playing in only one game as a rookie in 2024, teams know the former Tennessee product for his elite size, arm strength, and physical tools, which were all displayed when he led the Patriots to a 23-16 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Week 18.”
Milton stands six-foot-five and weighs in at 246 pounds. He has been seen in multiple online videos throwing a football more than 80 yards in training sessions, and doing it with ease.
“If the Rams were to consider pursuing Milton, what would be the cost, and would it be worthwhile for a player whose only playing time was in a meaningless Week 18 game?” asked Jawad. “Acquiring the 25-year-old could give the Rams a young player to develop behind Stafford, allowing them to forgo the options in this month’s draft. Milton was a sixth-round pick in 2024 out of Tennessee, which could be the starting point in trade negotiations.”
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