'We Want To Win It!': Rams GM Les Snead Reveals Backup QB Plans
With a proven veteran and Super Bowl champion in Matthew Stafford at quarterback, the Los Angeles Rams can consider themselves blessed at the game's most-important position.
For as good as Stafford is, though, he's sadly not invincible. The two-time Pro Bowl quarterback just turned 36 last month, and he's dealt with multiple injuries over the past couple of seasons. As a result, the Rams must make sure they have a viable backup plan in case Stafford goes down again next season.
Rest assured, general manager Les Snead is well aware of this predicament, and he intends to be aggressive in addressing it this offseason.
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“What we do want to accomplish this year is making sure we have … if we ever have to go play a game without Matthew in the lineup, we want to be able to win it,” Snead said, per Rams Newswire. “And I think this year, different than last year based on salary cap, could allow us to maybe do a veteran QB. The flexibility with the cap does allow us to do that where last year, we thought, you know what, let’s try to be the most competitive team with our starting 22, but it did come back to hurt us definitely (in) one game last year.”
The game Snead is referring to is the Rams' 20-3 road loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 9, in which they were forced to start Brett Rypien at quarterback as Stafford dealt with a thumb injury. That game was by far the Rams' worst offensive showing of the year, as they scored a season-low three points with just 187 yards of total offense, also a season-low. Rypien himself was ineffective at best, as he completed just 13 of 28 passes for 130 yards with an interception.
That game made the Rams realize that they needed a backup option, and just a few days later, they would sign Carson Wentz to address such a need. Wentz only played one game with the Rams, the regular-season finale against the San Francisco 49ers while Stafford was resting, but he was quite solid in that game.
The No. 2 overall pick in 2016 is slated to become a free agent next week, but the Rams would happily welcome him back as a backup.
Coincidentally, that Packers game was also the Rams' last before they went on a 7-1 run to close the year and make a surprise playoff appearance. Maybe having a viable backup behind Stafford contributed to the turnaround in some way, even if Wentz didn't play much.
Whether or Wentz or someone else, Snead is committed to having stability at the backup quarterback position this fall.
