The Los Angeles Rams and QB Matthew Stafford have come to terms on a restructured contract to keep the veteran signal caller in LA the club announced Friday.
The deal follows a tumultuous offseason in which the club granted Stafford’s camp permission to gauge his trade value with other NFL teams. After meeting with at least two clubs (believed to be the Giants and Raiders), the two sides came back together and were able to hammer out a deal.
Stafford, who signed a contract extension with the Rams in March 2022, had two seasons remaining on his previous deal with $4 million guaranteed in 2025 and none in 2026. The 37 year old’s $46.1M cap hit was 2nd highest in the NFL in 2024, trailing only Kyler Murray’s $49.1M figure. However, much of that was due to a previously reworked deal which took until the day the Rams reported to training camp to complete.
While financial terms of the deal have yet to be made public, it’s widely expected that the new deal will keep Stafford in LA for the duration of his career, while also structuring it so that the Rams can continue to keep their window to compete open as long as possible.
Across 16 starts in 2024, Stafford threw for 3,762 yards and 20 TDs against only 8 INTs. His 65.8% completion percentage represented a slight bump from his 2023 figure (62.6%) though most other statistical categories took a step back for the former Super Bowl champion last season.
Nevertheless, with a shallow incoming class of rookie quarterbacks in this year’s NFL Draft, and several other teams around the league in desperate need of a QB upgrade, the Rams did well to ensure that they had a reliable option under centre for the upcoming season.
Stafford represents the first major QB domino to fall this offseason, which should affect plans for a number of teams including the aforementioned Giants and Raiders, as well as the Jets, and Titans who both have top 10 picks and a need for an upgrade at quarterback.
It also complicates matters further with former Jets QB Aaron Rodgers, who was mentioned as a possible replacement for Stafford should the 2x Pro Bowler have opted to move elsewhere this offseason.
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