The biggest question mark for the Los Angeles Rams heading into the offseason was the quarterback position as Matthew Stafford let it be known he was looking for a new contract, and deservingly so.
The Rams allowed Stafford to talk to other teams to gauge his value, and eventually both parties wound up coming back to each other. Stafford agreed to a new deal to return to the Rams for another season, making them legit Super Bowl contenders with a young and talented roster around him.
While it took a little while, the details of Stafford’s new contract with the Rams have finally emerged, per Over The Cap.
In his new deal, Stafford got a $17 million raise from last season with his cash payout raising from $27 million to $44 million.
While Stafford is getting more money this year than last, his cap hit for the Rams has lowered from $49.67 million to $40.97 million. That was made possible because they added five void years onto the end of the contract from 2027-2031. By adding void years, the Rams are able to spread out his bonus to lower the 2025 cap hit.
Stafford’s new contract has $40 million in guarantees, which is a total raise of $26 million from his previous deal with $17 million coming this season. He also has multiple option bonuses worth up to $24 million in 2025 and 2026.
With his new contract, Stafford is essentially making $46.5 million per year, which would put him 11th among all quarterbacks in annual salary.
Now that Stafford’s contract situation is sorted out and details have emerged, the Rams still have some money to spend this offseason. Once they sign their draft class, which is the cheapest in the league, they project to have around $24.67 million in cap space.
The Rams have recently been linked to a reunion with Jalen Ramsey and can afford his contract if they want to do that.
Matthew Stafford never wanted to leave Rams
Even though he spoke with other teams and things were looking dicey for a little bit, Matthew Stafford revealed that he never wanted to leave the Rams this offseason.
“Never really wanted to leave,” Stafford said. “So just happy to be back, and happy that the Rams want me back and we can move forward and hopefully have a great season.”
The focus can now shift to the field where Stafford will look to lead the Rams back to the Super Bowl in 2025 after a tough loss to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs last year.
