After the Los Angeles Rams acquired Matthew Stafford in 2021, he immediately took them to the promise land by winning the Super Bowl in his first season with the team.
That earned a four-year, $160 million extension for the veteran immediately after, locking him into the Rams essentially for the remainder of his career.
While the 2022 season was filled with injuries for Stafford and the Rams, they were able to bounce back in 2023 and unexpectedly got back to the playoffs.
Even at 36 years of age, Stafford showed that he still has a lot left in the tank, playing in 15 games and throwing for 3,965 yards with 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Now heading into the 2024 season, it appears Stafford wants to make another adjustment to his contract, per Ian Rapoport on NFL Network during Thursday night’s draft:
“My understanding is Matthew Stafford, while he has been in the building, does want an adjustment on his contract, does want more guaranteed money past this year,” Rapoport said. “He believes he has a lot left. A little bit of a lingering issue this offseason for the Rams.”
Stafford has three years left on his contract but just $31 million remaining in guaranteed salary this year and none over the final two seasons, per Over the Cap. With that being the case, it makes sense that he wants to make some adjustments to get more guaranteed money this late in his career.
If the Rams and Stafford are able to agree on a restructured contract then it could open up some cap space in 2024, although his cap hits in 2025 and 2026 are already very high. There’s no doubt that the organization will want to reward their quarterback though so it’s likely that some sort of deal gets done at some point in the offseason to add more guaranteed money for Stafford.
With this being the case though, it seems that Stafford is set on playing for at least a few more seasons, which is great news for the Rams considering they do not have a contingency plan in place if he were to call it a career.
Jimmy Garoppolo doesn’t believe Stafford gets enough credit
One of Matthew Stafford’s biggest supporters is his new backup, another veteran in Jimmy Garoppolo. After Garoppolo joined the Rams, he spoke about Stafford influence and how he doesn’t get enough credit for the career he has had.
“I got to meet Matthew a couple times obviously after we played, but similar to Sean after last year’s practice and training camp against these guys we got to sit and talk for a minute,” Garoppolo said. “Matthew was really cool, normal, down to earth guy, Super Bowl champion. I think that speaks for itself and his arm talent, I don’t think he gets enough credit but I think people are starting to notice that. I’m excited to work with him, learn from him and all that good stuff.”
