Where Washington Football Team ranks in Matthew Stafford sweepstakes

1. Indianapolis Colts

The Colts seem like the most likely team to trade for Stafford. Why? They are effectively a quarterback away from being a potential contender once again.

Last year, the Colts added Philip Rivers to the fold and came up just short of winning the AFC South. They made the playoffs as a Wild Card and nearly had a come-from-behind victory against the Bills. Now, Rivers is retiring and they’ll need a new passer again.

Stafford would upgrade the Colts’ offense immediately. He’s a better quarterback than they’ve had since Andrew Luck last played, as his arm is in better shape than Rivers and he has better accuracy and arm talent than Jacoby Brissett. As such, the Colts will be interested in getting him.

The Colts have draft capital to offer and they can build a package around the 21st overall pick. It’s not as good as the picks some of the other teams on here have available, but given that the Colts don’t have a lot of holes, they can choose to go all-in for their quarterback. And GM Chris Ballard doesn’t seem to think any quarterbacks will be available with the 21st pick, so that could dictate his strategy.

It also helps that the Colts have $68 million in cap space, good for the second-most in the league behind only the Jacksonville Jaguars. So, they will be able to get Stafford and still re-sign some of their important, pending free agents including T.Y. Hilton, Xavier Rhodes, Justin Houston, Denico Autry, and more. They could even try to sign someone like Kenny Golladay to pair with Stafford, if that’s something the two can organize.

The Colts have the most resources to build around Stafford, so it stands to reason that they will be willing to give a very good deal for him. We’ll soon see what they can do, but they seem like one of the best partners for the Lions to negotiate with.

And as for Detroit, they’d probably love to move Stafford to the Colts. If they get him out of the division, they’ll rarely have to face him if he decides to finish off his career in Indianapolis.

There are a lot of places that Stafford could land, but these represent the best options. The Washington Football Team will certainly look at the possibility of acquiring him. It will be interesting to see where he ultimately lands, no matter what.