DEAL TERMS AGREED: RAMS on the verge of signing a new QB off Buccaneers amid Matthew Stafford huge injury setback

John Wolford is returning to Los Angeles. The longtime Rams backup left for the Buccaneers this offseason, but Matthew Stafford has suffered another injury. They will take action through an outside contractor.

According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, the Rams intend to sign Wolford off the Bucs’ practice squad. Wolford was not named to Tampa Bay’s 53-man roster, with Kyle Trask filling in for starter Baker Mayfield. Wolford has spent the season on the Bucs’ practice squad, but the latest Stafford injury will force the Rams to agree to a reunion.

Wolford must remain on the Rams’ active roster for at least three weeks because he was signed from Tampa Bay’s taxi squad. That will be a familiar setting for Wolford, who spent four years in Los Angeles as the backup to Stafford and Jared Goff. This offseason, the Rams replaced Wolford with ex-Broncos backup Brett Rypien.

Stetson Bennett, the Rams’ rookie running back, is currently on the reserve/NFI list.

Stafford was injured against the Cowboys and was replaced by Rypien. The 15th-year quarterback is dealing with a UCL sprain in his throwing thumb, and this upcoming transaction calls the starter’s availability for Week 9 into question. Stafford missed eight games last season due to injury. However, as of 2022, the former Lions mainstay had only missed one of the previous 11 seasons (due to a back injury in 2019). With IR on the table for Stafford, the Rams are once again scrambling for the game’s top spot.

Goff brought more durability than Stafford, forcing Wolford to sit for the majority of his first two seasons in California. Wolford, who was signed after a brief stint in the Alliance of American Football in 2019, ended up playing a key role for the 2020 Rams. Goff’s thumb injury kept him out of the Rams’ season finale in 2020, so Sean McVay turned to Wolford in Week 17 and then the wild-card round. A neck injury forced Wolford out of the Rams-Seahawks game, forcing an injured Goff back into action. Goff was included in the Stafford trade weeks later by the Rams.

Wolford, 28, has made five starts in his career. Last season, three of them came in relief of Stafford. The Wake Forest product was not particularly productive last year. The start for which he is credited included little usage, with the Rams inserting Mayfield — who had only been with the team for two days at that point — into the lineup and seeing the waiver claim lead an unlikely game-winning drive to defeat the Raiders. Wolford was not considered in the Mayfeld-Trask Tampa competition, but he could get another shot soon, depending on how the Rams handle the Stafford situation.