Matthew Stafford’s name was bandied about as a potential trade candidate early in the 2025 NFL offseason.
The reason? Stafford was set to make just $27 million in 2025, well below the market value for starting quarterbacks in the NFL. As a result, he and the Los Angeles Rams needed to negotiate a restructured contract for both parties to continue their partnership happily.
It took some time for the two sides to agree to a deal. The Rams let Stafford gauge his market value with other teams before ultimately inking him to a restructured pact during the 2025 NFL combine.
Despite the back-and-forth, Rams coach Sean McVay never doubted Stafford would be his quarterback for the 2025 season.
‘That was never something that I ever thought would occur,’ McVay said at a Monday news conference when asked whether he believed Stafford would leave the Rams.
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Why was McVay so confident Stafford would return? The Rams coach explained there was a mutual understanding early on the veteran wouldn’t play for the amount he was due in 2025. Essentially, that had been a placeholder number stemming from last offseason’s contract restructure.
‘That was something that we always knew was coming down,’ McVay said of Stafford’s newest deal. ‘And when he felt good with the way the season ended, and obviously we were all ecstatic about him wanting to continue to play and play at a high level. Now it’s just figuring out the semantics of, all right, there’s no way to put an actual value on what he means, but what does it look like to be able to fit it for the landscape of our football team, where we’re at, knowing how many years you want to play, and what does that look like for the short and for the long term?
‘And [I] think, fortunately, we were able to come to a compromise and a conclusion that everybody feels really good about, and I think it’s a great reflection of him and our group.’
Had things fallen apart with Stafford, the Rams would have been thin at quarterback. Stetson Bennett IV is the only other quarterback currently on the team’s roster, as backup Jimmy Garoppolo is set to be a free agent during the 2025 offseason.
As such, McVay is grateful that he and general manager Les Snead won’t be left scrambling to find a new starting quarterback ahead of the 2025 NFL season.
‘There was always going to have to be a decision on our part if he wasn’t going to be here,’ McVay said. ‘And that was never something that felt like ever got close, and it was never something that I allowed my mind to go to.’
(This story has been updated.)