The Los Angeles Rams quarterback room has exactly one inhabitant: QB Matthew Stafford. QB Baker Mayfield has been signed by the Bucs and the Rams won’t likely go after John Wolford or Bryce Perkins in free agency.
They will have to add a Rams backup quarterback before the offseason gets underway with OTA. But how should they approach the situation?
Rams Backup Quarterback Should Be A Free Agent:
The Rams should target a veteran quarterback in free agency to be Stafford’s backup. Before the season Stafford dealt with a mysterious elbow injury that forced the Rams staff to keep him on a pitch count. Not only that, but later in the season he went down with a season-ending back injury, the second spinal injury of his career.
The Rams need a quarterback with experience that can come in and captain the offense and keep the team afloat in the event of another Stafford injury.
There are a number of good-quality backups still available to the Rams in free agency. Carson Wentz, Marcus Mariota, and Teddy Bridgewater have recently started games in the NFL.
The Rams Should Draft A Backup Quarterback:
The Rams have 11 picks in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft. They don’t need to draft one in the Top 100, but they should consider getting a rookie as Stafford’s backup. The biggest reason is that he will be cheap. Saving cap space is job one of the 2023 Rams.
The Rams backup QB doesn’t need to be good right away. And if it doesn’t work out, they won’t have lost much in the process.
There are several good quarterbacks that should be around in the later rounds that the Rams could target, such as Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Stetson Bennett, and Tyson Bagent.