Matthew Stafford Wants His Hollywood Ending. So Do the Rams.

After 12 seasons in Detroit, the quarterback wanted out. The Los Angeles Rams, looking to move on from Jared Goff, saw in Stafford another shot at a championship run.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — After Matthew Stafford, the Los Angeles Rams’ new quarterback, threw three interceptions this month in a joint practice with the Las Vegas Raiders, he and his teammates remained calm. Instead of pouting or slamming his helmet, he convened with his coaches to discuss what went wrong. Les Snead, the team’s general manager, also looked relaxed as he watched from afar on a cloudy, rainy afternoon. He had orchestrated the January trade to acquire Stafford, sending the team’s starting quarterback, Jared Goff, and three draft picks, including two first-round selections, to the Detroit Lions. By adding one of the most productive quarterbacks in the N.F.L. (Stafford’s 45,109 career yards rank him fifth among active passers) but parting with the chance to draft in the first round until 2024, the team drastically raised its fans’ hopes for the immediate future. Stafford’s practice turnovers, however, had many of them expressing angst on social media. According to Snead, they included one of his children, a teenager, who texted him asking if “Stafford had a bad day.”