Kyle Shanahan recalls Rams ruining his night in Cabo by trading for Matthew Stafford

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Kyle Shanahan recalls Rams ruining his night in Cabo by trading for Matthew Stafford

Cameron DaSilva
July 7, 2021 8:09 am PT
When the Los Angeles Rams traded for Matthew Stafford, the quarterback just happened to be in Cabo at the same resort as Sean McVay. It was a complete coincidence, but one that worked out nicely because they were able to have dinner together and get to know each other a bit.

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan was in Cabo, too, but he was staying at a different resort. Like McVay and the Rams, he and the 49ers were also in pursuit of Stafford as his team was searching for an upgrade at quarterback.

The Rams obviously won the Stafford sweepstakes by giving the Lions two first-round picks, a third-rounder and Jared Goff, which trumped other offers Detroit received for the veteran quarterback. That trade ruined Shanahan’s Saturday night because he was told the trade wasn’t going to happen until the following day at the earliest, so he had time to sleep on it before making an offer to the Lions.

That turned out to be false because the Rams struck a deal late Saturday night to land their new quarterback. Shanahan was a guest on the “Flying Coach” podcast with Sean McVay and Peter Schrager, and he recalled how things went down while he was in Cabo.

“You don’t want to get me started. It was frustrating,” Shanahan replied when McVay asked how he felt after the Rams made the trade. “I was in Cabo, I was watching it all. I remember looking through it because everybody was telling me it was a possibility and Stafford’s the man. I studied him hard coming out of college and always played against him so you know how good he is but to know he might be available and to spend two weeks really watching him, Sean, he’s better than I had realized. He was the man and he’s actually underrated to me. So I know how good of a guy you got. I know how good he is at play action. I know how smart he is. Not only does he have a big arm but he’s got touch. He knows where to go with the ball, so I was trying to get involved in it.

“Someone who had knowledge of the situation – I remember I was talking to (Tom) Condon, everyone to find out when it was happening and I remember Saturday I was so stressed out and finally we talked to someone. It was like 7 at night and they’re like, ‘No, nothing’s happening. At the earliest, tomorrow. So you can finish your night.’ So I’m like, alright, I’m done. Put my phone down, talked to Mandy, I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s go out to dinner, let’s have some drinks.’ Half an hour later, my buddy calls me and is like, ‘I’m just telling ya, if you want Stafford, you need to get a hold of him right now.’ I’m like, ‘What do you mean? No, we just talked to people, I can sleep on this, we’ll talk to him tomorrow.’ ‘I’m just telling you, you need to talk to him right now.’ And it totally, it was all over. What fun.”



The Rams were obviously determined to land Stafford, more so than any other team in the league. And as surprising as it was to fans and players, McVay was also shocked by how quickly it all came together.

“If it makes you feel any better, it came together faster than I thought too, Kyle,” McVay said, laughing.

Shanahan joked that he would’ve gone to the resort Stafford and McVay were staying at to make things really awkward for both of them.

“Well, the fact I was in Cabo, I would’ve been there and I would’ve made it really awkward on you two to enjoy it. You would’ve had to tell me to leave,” he said.

Shanahan told McVay, “You messed up my Saturday night in Cabo,” which is understandable. He knows how good Stafford is and to have his friend and division rival swoop in to land him, it must’ve hurt quite a bit. But the 49ers have their franchise quarterback now after trading up for Trey Lance, who could give the Rams fits for years to come.