Latest Matthew Stafford trade update signals increase in Rams' asking price

Another day, another chapter in the Matthew Stafford trade saga for the L.A. Rams.

It's been a few weeks of rumors at this point, with many believing nothing concrete is going to happen in terms of a trade. Stafford and the Rams both want to get a deal done, but right now, it's a matter of figuring out whether or not he's worth top dollar.

While that might give fans reason to worry, there's still not much to raise concern over. At the moment, nothing has happened and, for now, these all remain rumors. Even after Stafford's agent was given permission to speak with other teams, that looks to be more of the Rams trying to figure out what they're going to pay him in the end to stick around.

But, as this topic isn't going away, it's still worth talking about as new reports surface.

Just one day after Stafford was officially linked to multiple teams in trade rumors, we have yet another wrinkle emerging.

The Athletic's Dianna Russini has been all over this topic lately, and her latest update provided us with a major turn in this saga. Apparently, the Rams are now prepared to increase their asking price should they opt to trade Stafford.

"Teams are anticipating the Rams will now be driving up the asking price if they decide to move him," she wrote.

The Giants and Raiders are most interested in a Matthew Stafford trade

Just how high will the price go? Some have been led to believe the Rams want a first-round pick in exchange for Stafford. For some teams interested, just their 2025 first-round pick, alone, might be way too steep a price.

Why are the Rams prepared to drive up the asking price? In conjunction with this report, Russini stated that it's the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders who are most interested in dealing for Stafford.

This makes plenty of sense, too, for a couple obvious reasons.

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First and foremost, let's look at the Giants. They own the no. 3 overall pick in a draft that is without a top-tier talent at quarterback. Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward are the top two prospects, sure, but if they were to have been in last year's class, they'd have been between the sixth and eighth quarterbacks off the board by many accounts.

Stafford is a significant upgrade over taking a chance on a rookie with that third overall pick.

For the Raiders, they don't even have a good shot at landing Sanders or Ward coming in with the no. 6 overall selection. The two quarterbacks will probably be gone by then, either to teams currently slotted ahead or by way of another team trading up.

Las Vegas obviously sees Stafford as a clear-cut upgrade over risking it on a rookie, and they're correct in their thinking.