NFL insider drops a Matthew Stafford trade rumor bomb on the Rams' offseason

A topic that can be filed under "not going away," there has been yet another update in the Matthew Stafford (trade?) saga.

The L.A. Rams may or may not end up trading their starting quarterback, and that remains to be seen. However, to this point, we've heard mostly rumors and rumblings with an assumption that both sides want to get a deal done and allow Stafford to stay put.

There's been a whole lot of chatter about a team like the New York Giants swooping in, but nothing of merit has happened between the two teams. With the price tag on a Stafford trade even being revealed, this week, it made the possibility a bit more real.

NFL insider Tom Pelissero recently went on the air with Rich Eisen, though, and gave us all an update that rang much differently than any recent news on the situation.

Speaking with Eisen, Pelissero confirmed that the Rams have not only been in communication with Stafford's agent, but that steps have been taken even further in the potential trade matter.

The Rams gave permission to Matthew Stafford's agent to talk with other teams

"The Rams have been in conversations with his agent," Palmer said. "They've also given his agent permission to talk to other clubs and just figure out if he became available, what would the numbers be elsewhere?"

Count this as officially intriguing, now. Before today, there were just rumors of a Stafford trade. Now, like it or not, the Rams have allowed his agent to speak with other teams.

Sure, the premise of his agent speaking with other teams might just be for the Rams to gauge how teams value Stafford around the league. Should a team like, say, the Giants come to Stafford's agent and say they'd be willing to pay $50 million annually on a 2-year deal, then Los Angeles would know exactly what it would take for him to stay, assuming that's the highest number they hear.

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But, the fact that the Rams are allowing conversations to happen between Stafford's agent and other teams is notable. That cannot be simply brushed off as nothing, because it is certainly not nothing.

If Stafford's agent were to find that other teams would be willing to overpay for Stafford in a trade, during those conversations, then that might also change things for the Rams. Anything can happen in these discussions.

The Rams didn't just crack the door open for a possible Stafford trade. They opened it wide.