Former Los Angeles Rams quarterback John Wolford has signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team announced. Wolford had been with the Rams since 2019, starting on the practice squad before making the active roster in 2020.
Wolford started four games during his tenure with the Rams with three of those coming last season. Wolford completed 38 of his 62 pass attempts last year for 390 yards and one touchdown with three interceptions after replacing injured starter Matthew Stafford. In his third star,t however, Wolford played just one series before being removed due to a neck injury and did not see the field again for the remainder of the season.
Coincidentally, Wolford was replaced that night by Baker Mayfield, who would lead the Rams to victory. And now Wolford re-joins Mayfield, who signed to be the Buccaneers’ starting quarterback earlier this offseason. The Rams chose not to extend a qualifying offer to Wolford this offseason, making him an unrestricted free agent.
For his career, Wolford has played in seven regular-season games with four starts, completing 61 of 104 passes for 626 yards, one touchdown and five interceptions, while also rushing for another 87 yards.
With both Mayfield and Wolford now in Tampa Bay, it looks as if Rams’ fourth-round draft pick Stetson Bennett out of Georgia will be the backup to Stafford.
Bennett is one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in the draft, leading the Bulldogs to back-to-back national championships. In those two seasons, Bennett completed 66.7% of his passes for 6,990 yards and 56 touchdowns to just 14 interceptions.
The 2022 season was his best as he threw for a Georgia record 4,128 yards and 27 touchdowns while adding another 10 touchdowns on the ground. He won the Manning Award as the nation’s top quarterback and was also named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. Bennett was also named Offensive MVP of the CFP National Championship Game after throwing for 304 yards and six total touchdowns.
Matthew Stafford feeling healthy and excited to participate in Rams offseason program
Regardless of who the backup is, Stafford will be the man under center for the Rams when the season begins and he is ready to go.
After an injury-plagued season, Stafford said that he is feeling as healthy as he can be and is excited to be out on the field for Rams’ offseason activities which he has been unable to do in the past. Stafford added that he has put in a lot of time and work to get where he is right now.
