Will Simpson pick ‘motivate’ Stafford?
Chris Simms and Mike Florio break down the Rams' selection of Ty Simpson and discuss how the pick could impact star quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Video Transcript
But regardless, I understand your point and everything you're saying there, and you're right.
I mean, they are playing with house money to a degree.
We understand that.
But, but as we always talk about too, right, reading the room, reading your team, building the team, where you're at is such an important thing.
And that's where I'm just interested to see where this goes.
Especially what I would be worried about is really this is Jordan Love, Aaron Rodgers-ish, Kirk Cousins, Michael Penix-ish.
There's a little bit of a different context here.
But what I will say is just like all those situations, I do think this situation will piss off star quarterback that's there starting already, sorry Edinburg, and it'll motivate him actually to stay and play longer.
I- it really will.
I think this is like the one of those things with guys like this, they're gonna go, "Oh, oh, they think they're gonna push me out the door and they're, they're gonna tell me when I'm done playing awesome and, and retiring?
Oh, oh, okay."
Yeah, right.
You're just gonna You just ignited the fire for him to play one extra year.
So now we might not see Ty Simpson for four years from now, and of course him not playing is already an issue, and that's where I don't love the whole pick.
You know I don't love the pick even with other reasons.
Well, let's take it a step farther.
Yeah.
Not just I'm gonna stay even longer, I'm gonna go somewhere else.
I'm not gonna walk off- Well, maybe into the sunset- Right, right as a member of the Los Angeles Rams.
Maybe I'll go play for the 49ers for a year.
Maybe I'll go play for the Seahawks for a year.
Maybe I'll go back to Detroit if they move on from Jared Goff at some point.
I can go anywhere I want.
He's already flirted with that, and at the end of the day, he wasn't willing to go to the Giants or the Raiders.
This was in February of 2025 when he was trying to get another 3 or 4 million.
There's always been some tension there as to what he's gonna be paid.
There's always been- Yeah just a little bit there.
And I feel like the decision to take Ty Simpson was driven in part by the reality that the Rams are becoming exasperated by this year to year what is Matthew gonna do.
Is he gonna retire?
Is he gonna wanna go somewhere else?
We don't have any year to year certainty.
We're just after each season.
All right, we know It, it happened as soon as they lost to the Seahawks in the NFC Championship in the locker room.
"Are you gonna be back next year?"
"Uh, now isn't the time to talk about that," is what Stafford said.
I mean, so boom, start the clock on worrying whether or not we're gonna have our quarterback.
But I'd like to think they'd have the confidence they could get anyone they wanted who's available.
That's the thing, and maybe that's the thing that ultimately pissed Sean McVay off.
"Hey, Sean, we gotta have a plan in place for when Matthew Stafford finally goes.
We don't have a plan."
"Hey, guys, how about the plan is I'm Sean McVay, and we'll find a great quarterback who They'll be fighting each other to get here.
They'll wanna come here.
We'll be fine.
We'll find an established veteran quarterback that we know, that we trust, and that we want and that wants us.
Why are we worried about that?
Why are we residing in our fears?
Let's just enjoy the fact that we have Matthew Stafford, and when he's gone, we don't need to have a guy warmed up ready to go.
We'll find somebody."
Yeah.
"And it'll be fine.
Why are we using the 13th all- overall pick when we can find anyone we want when the time comes to replace Matthew Stafford?"
That's the thing that would've pissed me off if I was Sean McVay.
"You don't believe in me."
Well, I, I, I think it's a valid point, and I think your point there, you said that Friday, and I'm, I'm with you.
Th- this is a place where quarterbacks are like, "Wait, I might be free?
Hold on.
The Rams are in my top li- top of my list.
Wait, I might be free?
Wait, let me make my top three.
Oh, the Rams, McVay, blah, blah, blah," right?
You So they're, they're gonna have people that wanna go there.
No, no doubt about that.
And, you know, back even to the, the whole original conversation, you've seen the draft phone call, right?
Like, "Let's go make history, coach."
Oh, God.
"Uh, no.
Uh" Oh, yeah.
No.
"Uh, no.
yeah."
"Hey, yeah, just get in here and work hard, man."
I mean, yeah.
So a- again, it, it's all a little odd right there.
And the, the, and, and to me, listen, I, I was sitting there more on the lines And I think some other people in the NFL were like this, too, where they were kinda going, "Wait, the Rams are at pick 13, and they were the second-best team in football last year, and they've done a good job in free agency, and they got a pretty good young nucleus of guys on the football team."
I think there was a faction of people in the NFL that thought the Rams were gonna be a team that were gonna trade up into the top 10.
I don't know what their picks are for next year, but go and get one of these guys that we are all like, "Whoa."
Like, "Holy crap," right?
the, the I think there was a, a definitely a group of people that were scared of that.
You know?
I, I had talked to the 49ers brass at the, the owners meeting.
That was one of the things.
They were like, "Oh, man, they're at 13.
I mean, they could trade up and get some star player, and really unbelievable.
Like, do that," right?
So that's what, you know, is crazy, too.
They were in such a position really to stress the whole league out and make their team almost that super team we've talked about with the Eagles.
And I understand drafting for the future, but they drafted with the future with a guy that's, I would say is, yeah, a little dicey.
I like his talent, but we know there's the other thir- other concerns: not playing, being small, getting beat up at the end of the year.
That would bother me, too.
So, you know, it really is.
I think this is the theme of the draft.
It was the biggest story of the draft, and we'll see where it goes from here.
But I think Matthew Stafford, to your point, is gonna be pissed off and motivated by this more than anything else.
