The Los Angeles Rams announced that they tendered quarterback John Wolford as an exclusive rights free agent (ERFA), which means he will be back to back up Matthew Stafford in 2022.
This type of move can be made for any player who has less than three seasons played and had his contract expire. Since the Rams offered Wolford a one-year tenure at the minimum, he cannot negotiate with other teams.
Wolford appeared in just three games in 2021, completing 1-of-4 pass attempts for five yards in limited duty.
He played a little more in 2020 when Jared Goff was injury, completing 22 of 38 passes for 231 yards in his first career start against the Arizona Cardinals, helping the Rams clinch a playoff berth with a win. He originally joined the Rams as a free agent signee in April 2019 out of the Alliance of American Football.
Wolford took to social media to express excitement about returning to the Rams:
Excited to run it back with the @rams and this QB room (minus Kevin)#erfatender #rams #nfl #runitback #anontheryear #la pic.twitter.com/WfYBlCgb3Q
— John Wolford (@johnwolford_9) March 23, 2022
As Wolford mentioned, the Rams’ quarterback room will be looking very familiar in 2022 with Stafford, him and Bryce Perkins. The organization has lost offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell, but he is being replaced by a familiar face in Liam Coen.
While the hope is that Stafford will again be able to stay healthy and take every snap in 2022, suring up the backup position in the NFL is extremely important, especially for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
Wolford has only played limited snaps, but he has proven to be a capable backup and someone that Sean McVay and the coaching staff could have some trust in should Stafford get hurt.
