Stuck in quarterback purgatory for years since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement, the Pittsburgh Steelers were one of several teams who tried to land Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford in a trade ahead of the 2022 season, but didn’t offer enough in return, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Steelers have been unable to “stumble into” an unexpected star like former seventh-rounder Brock Purdy or select a future franchise player under center in the first round, according to Schefter, who believes the franchise could’ve signed Stafford had they been willing to give up a second-round selection.
“They were 100% in the mix for Matthew Stafford,” Schefter said Tuesday on ESPN Radio. “It’s amazing to me, but the quandary was if you’re the (New York) Giants, who were calling on them, the Steelers, the (Las Vegas) Raiders … it’s funny to me because at that time, those teams wanted the best value possible. You want to give up the least amount of compensation. Those teams would put together packages, but generally speaking, most of these teams I remember the conversation being the Rams wanted a second-round pick and then some. Teams were stuck on a third-round pick.”
Stafford, a potential future Hall of Famer given his career numbers, agreed to a four-year extension in March 2022 worth $160 million. He’s having one of the best campaigns of his career so far in 2025 with 3,073 yards passing, 32 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Stafford won Super Bowl LVI with the Rams to cap his first season in 2021 following 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions as a former No. 1 overall pick. Stafford has taken Sean McVay’s Rams to the playoffs in consecutive years and Los Angeles currently leads the NFC West with Seattle at 9-3 overall.
“Generally speaking from multiple conversations I had with multiple teams, Stafford was open to be traded (because) the Rams didn’t know what he wanted,” Schefter said. “In our world, you’re living certain stories at certain times. You remember the Rams announced they were bringing back Stafford on Friday at the (NFL Combine). Generally, the majority of these teams were tip-toeing around it and trying to get a value deal on Matthew Stafford.”
No team was interested in tossing a second-round pick to Los Angeles for its quarterback, much less a first-round request that the Rams were initially seeking. In hindsight, that trio of teams who were kicking the tires on Stafford — the Giants, Steelers and Raiders — would’ve been better off with the two-time Pro Bowler in tow from 2022 through the 2024 seasons, sans rookie Jaxson Dart’s emergence with New York this fall.
The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016, while the Giants’ lone postseason victory since winning the Super Bowl with Eli Manning in 2011 came three years ago in a wild-card game. The Raiders haven’t posted a playoff win in more than two decades.
