Rams: Does Tom Brady’s retirement impact Matthew Stafford?

The LA Rams may not have bested him in Super Bowl LIII, but the team did manage to beat him along the way to winning Super Bowl LVI. The chance to face him again ended on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, as long-time NFL quarterback Tom Brady retired, albeit for the second time.  He was slated to become a free agent this off-season, adding his name to an ever-growing list of veteran quarterbacks who are slated to switch teams and hope to compete in the post-season in a new uniform.

We know that LA Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford had already weighed his own retirement quite carefully this off-season. But that decision came rather quickly and it came before the LA Rams knew whether or not their head coach Sean McVay would be back.

No more Stafford-Brady contests

Today, the LA Rams lost the chance to play QB Tom Brady one more time. Oh, there were still rumors that he would sign with the San Francisco 49ers, and compete for one more Super Bowl ring. There were rumors that he would consider signing with any number of teams.  But on this day, he no longer sees his future in a pocket.

His future is now in the broadcast booth. And as crazy as this sounds, he will earn more money in ten years of broadcasting than he did in 23 years of playing quarterback in the NFL.

Sounds like an easy decision to me.

But this decision, as personal as it may be, does have repercussions for the entire NFL. After all, NFL teams interweave and recycle players each offseason, and the opportunity to sign Tom Brady was certainly more than a handful of NFL teams had in their sights during the NFL Free Agency market.

So let’s see how his decision might impact that of LA Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Does Brady impact Stafford?

Matthew Stafford is on a multi-year contract to play for the LA Rams. He is currently 35 years old, and in the history of the NFL, that is quite the age for a player to continue starting at quarterback. Things have changed along the way in the NFL, and much of that is thanks to Tom Brady. What do I mean?

Brady has ultimately retired at the age of 45 years old, ten years Stafford’s senior. In many ways, Brady saved his best for last. He won a Super Bowl at the age of 43. He set his career high in passing yards, 5,316 yards, at the age of 44. And the best three-year period of his NFL career is arguably his last three seasons.

The was no shortage of NFL teams interested in signing Tom Brady as a free agent in this off-season before he announced his retirement. Brady was a technician in the pocket, a quarterback who was as knowledgeable and experienced as they come, and in many cases, more knowledgeable than many of the offensive coaches on staff. That set a pretty high bar.

Stafford to follow suit?

Just one year after Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an NFL Free Agent and led them instantly to a Super Bowl victory, the LA Rams traded for QB Matthew Stafford who essentially did the same thing. Brady had long made it an almost annual tradition for every team he played on to make the playoffs. And he won seven Super Bowl rings over the course of his career.

Stafford has just one Super Bowl Ring, but it’s the most recent one awarded. And four of Brady’s Super Bowl victories: 2015 (38), 2017 (40), 2019 (42), and 2021 (44) all occured after he had turned 35. Stafford is only 35 now. In essence, Brady’s ability to win games, both in the regular season and in the NFL Playoffs, paved the way for Matthew Stafford to continue to compete well into his own career.

Best of all, the nefarious drop-off in production that is the bane of every seasoned NFL player simply failed to materialize for Brady. Like an antique or fine wine, Brady got better with age it seems. That is not to say that Matthew Stafford will do exactly the same. Still, it proves that it can happen.

The LA Rams trade for Matthew Stafford has already accomplished its purpose. The LA Rams hoisted the Lombardi Trophy for the city of Los Angeles, California, for the first time in the history of the franchise. Now, the Rams have the opportunity to reap bonus dividends. Can they? I think all of the core pieces remain in place to do exactly that. And thanks to Brady, the LA Rams know that winning with a veteran NFL QB is a long-lasting endeavor.

Does Brady impact NFL free-agent quarterbacks?

Perhaps the bigger impact that Tom Brady’s retirement creates is the LA Rams’ strategy to fill the quarterback room this offseason. How so? Well, the lack of a quarterback who is such a known commodity as Tom Brady automatically shrinks the pool of quarterback talent available in the NFL Free Agent market, and yet it also elevates the demand somewhat. Here’s what I mean.

If an NFL team is in the market for a free-agent quarterback, the addition of Tom Brady is not the type of addition that needs to be hedged. But now, with the absence of Brady, a team may settle for a veteran quarterback like former-49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The problem is that Garoppolo is injury prone, which could compel the team to add an additional quarterback for good measure. That effect creates a higher-than-average demand on quarterback resources this off-season.

Typically, that would not impact the Rams, a team that has been content to rely on the durability of the starting quarterback, and use backup quarterbacks as offensive trainers to assist in onboarding new faces to training camp, and who can run opposing offenses to prepare the defense in weekly practices.

Mayfield maybe?

The LA Rams had an impromptu audition for a backup quarterback when the team claimed quarterback Baker Mayfield off the Carolina Panthers waiver wire. While we will remember his incredible Mayfield Miracle victory just hours after arriving with the team, and the incredible offensive output on Christmas Day over the visiting Denver Broncos, we cannot forget that he struggled at times too.

Is he good enough to reclaim a starting quarterback role in the NFL Free Agency market? Some are convinced that he can. I, on the other hand, do not believe that he is quite ‘there’ yet. He had a shot at starting for both the Cleveland Browns and the Carolina Panthers, and for various unrelated reasons, those opportunities never seemed to work out.

The market has shifted now, thanks to Tom Brady’s retirement. With one starting QB out of the talent pool, the demand for quarterbacks in this NFL Free Agency market may surpass the supply of talent. Should that happen, some NFL team is quite likely to give Baker Mayfield an opportunity to compete for a starting quarterback role on their team. That could directly impact the Rams plans for the position this offseason.

No, the Rams are not kicked back to square one. But the idea of the backup quarterback could be more of a mystery than originally thought. The reason? Tom Brady delayed his retirement for one more year.