NFL Insider: Giants Hit Salary, Trade Comp for Rams QB Matthew Stafford

So why didn’t the deal get done?

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Despite New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen declining to address any questions related to Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, the Giants were all in on Stafford and willing to do whatever it took to get him into East Rutherford.

According to NFL insider Rich Eisen, the Giants did just that, only to be rebuked by the veteran quarterback, who decided to stay in Los Angeles.

“I heard the Giants’ and Raiders’ interest in Matthew Stafford was quite real, and it was hairy at certain junctures last week,” Eisen said on The Rich Eisen Show. 

“I heard the Giants hit the number for Stafford. And they not only hit the number for Stafford–and again, I heard this from multiple people–I heard they hit the number for Stafford and the trade comp, too. They were in.”

The Giants were one of two teams outside the Rams who were in hot pursuit of the 37-year-old Stafford. The other team was the Raiders, whom Eisen said he heard was “way in” on Stafford.  

Yet when all was said and done, the Giants, who last month added Chad Hall, Stafford’s brother-in-law, to their coaching staff as the assistant quarterbacks coach, weren’t able to seal the deal as Stafford opted to stay in Los Angeles following an in-person meeting with Rams team officials last Friday.

“I think, at the end of the day, the Staffords liked looking at the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean,” Eisen said when asked why the deal wasn't consummated despite meeting all the numbers and the trade compensation for Stafford.

“When it all comes down to it, it is the best spot for him,” Eisen added.

What Eisen didn't say, and what could have very well been a factor in Stafford's decision to stay with the Rams, is the Giants' current situation is far less stable than that in Los Angeles, where the Rams came within one game of the NFC Championship game last season. 

Giants team ownership granted Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll a grace period despite two straight seasons of losing records, the most recent one a franchise-worst 3-14 mark. 

It's certainly possible that despite having his monetary desires met, Stafford didn't want to go to a team that right now not only has too many question marks to count but which could very well have a new general manager and coaching staff after this season if things don't turn around.

Or, as Eisen suggested, it might have just been a matter of the Staffords not wanting to uproot their family to move across the country.

Whatever it was, the Giants have to now pivot and figure out which veteran quarterback might be willing to join the team as a bridge option.

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