LOS ANGELES — In case there were any doubts about Matthew Stafford‘s future with the Los Angeles Rams, general manager Les Snead put them to rest Thursday, saying the team is “going to definitely rely on” the quarterback.
“Matthew is definitely one of our pillars,” Snead said.
In his pre-free agency news conference on Thursday, Snead further explained why he used the term “remodel” instead of “rebuild” in late January when discussing how the roster will change this offseason.
“In a rebuild, you would just bulldoze the house down and begin rebuilding from the ground up,” Snead said.
That’s not the case for the Rams because of the “weight-bearing walls” Los Angeles still has on its roster, Snead said. Snead mentioned Stafford, wide receiver Cooper Kupp and defensive tackle Aaron Donald while listing those pillars, but notably left off cornerback Jalen Ramsey, wide receiver Allen Robinson and linebacker Leonard Floyd. When asked whether the Rams are actively seeking trades for those three players, Snead said he wanted to “keep the specifics of those in-house.”
Snead said that he counted before the news conference and that he has “probably taken calls on nine players” this offseason.
The Rams are currently approximately $16 million over the 2023 salary cap, according to OverTheCap.com, although they will save $5 million when Bobby Wagner‘s release is official at the start of the new league year.
“We’re trying to assess situations, figure out how to get under the cap [and] what’s the best way to do that,” Snead said. “… We’ve had calls on a lot of our players. Probably other places trying to figure out what are we doing big picture and things like that. It’s been a busy off season discussing players.”