Details of Stafford's extension with Rams

Fri, May 29, 2026

Mike Florio and Michael Holley break down the details of Matthew Stafford's contract extension with the Los Angeles Rams and why it shows he wants to stay with the Rams.

Video Transcript

The details have since come out, and here's what happened.

Here it is as basic as it can be.

Matthew Stafford got a $5 million raise in his base compensation for this year, and in exchange he's committed to a non-guaranteed, for now, another season with the Rams in 2027.

So they always, and I said this last week, they always find a way to control his rights beyond the current year while reserving the right to tear up the contract if they want to, and Stafford never has the ability to leave.

And maybe he just says, "You know what?

I don't wanna play for anybody else anyway."

But that's h- that's the end result.

The Rams get to exclusively decide after this season whether or not they're gonna keep him for 2027, and Stafford doesn't get to make that decision.

Now, if he didn't wanna play there anymore, I'm sure they'd trade him, but they'd get trade value.

If they were doing true year-to-year, he could walk away as a free agent any year, and he never plays it that way.

He coulda said, "I'm fine with 40.

You wanna give me 45?

I'm fine with 40, and I can be a free agent next year if I wanna be."

I'm wondering, yeah, and I, I heard, you all talking yesterday about, contracts.

You know, we've had the conversation before.

Josh Allen has an agent and, Lamar Jackson does not, and there's a big difference in compensation.

I think it's pretty obvious.

Yeah, you got an agent who's, who's fighting for you and knows where the, where the secret money is and the a- that agent is able to tap on that pinata and get some, some money to r- to rain out of that thing.

So for Matthew Stafford, I wonder, is this his call or is it his agent's call?

Because you bring up a great point.

If you're Matthew Stafford, you're coming off an MVP.

Yes, you deserve a raise.

You could argue, yeah, you d- you deserve a raise that's a lot higher than $5 million.

In this market, and you look at what the options are for the Rams, you got leverage.

Even with drafting Ty Simpson at number 13 overall, you got leverage, over the Rams.

You are a top five quarterback in football, and so you can get what you want.

If you don't want to, if you're not gonna push for free agency, you could push for more money.

I just wonder if that's his call or if his agent is saying, "Hey, this is, this is probably the way we should go with it."

I think it's his call because last year they had a potential trade set up to the Giants or the Raiders, and either team was gonna pay him significantly more than what the Rams ultimately paid.

So if it's the agent's call You know, I, I've heard, you know, for example, a, a longtime NFL executive, team executive said, he was having a conversation at one point about, you know, contracts and players wanting money and, you know, and, like, "We're trying to win a Super Bowl here.

Why are you driving such a hard bargain?"

And the agent said, "I don't get 3% of the rink."

So they, they don't care if the guy wins or not.

They don't care if the, the guy's team- Right Right?

When you have, especially if you have clients all throughout the league, you don't care unless there's some huge incentive tied to it.

And for Stafford under this new contract, he gets another two and a half million if they get to the Super Bowl and another two and a half million if they win the Super Bowl.

So he can increase from 40 to 50 this year, and it ends up being money well spent for the Rams if they do have to pay him that extra 5 million because that will mean they have won the Super Bowl.

Here's Stafford from yesterday talking about his new contract and his future with the Rams beyond 2026.

Happy to, you know, have your, have next year taken care of if in, you know, if I decide to play and, and, you know, still want me back.

But, no, just e- just excited to get that behind me 'cause I just wanna come out here and play and, and not think about that kind of stuff.

So great to get that done, you know, sooner rather than later.

If I'm feeling healthy and, you know, it's, like I said, it's, it's a family decision.

I can't sit there and tell you what it's gonna look like 365 days from now.

If you can, let me know.

But, you know, it's just one of those deals where I'm, I'm doing, you know, the best I can to make sure that I can play as long as I can and, and, make sure that my family and, and I, you know, are all on the same page before we, you know, embark on whatever season it may be.

He's 38 years old.

He's still got the arm, and it's not like there's some stunning drop in mobility that is coming.

Now, the legs can go quickly, and you gotta be able to get rid of the ball more quickly like Tom Brady did in his final years, but Stafford can play into his 40s if he wants to.

He's made over $400 million.

And I get the impression based on this contract he doesn't want to play for anyone else.

As long as the Rams want him, he'll stay.

Now, if the Rams would cut him before he believes he's done playing, that would open the door to possibly playing somewhere else because, you know, "I still wanna play and you don't want me."

But I think he has no desire to leave the Rams.

If they would ask him to leave, then that's a different story, but he's not looking to leave.

He's fine with staying.

He's gotten more money for this year, and if he plays next year, he'll make another 45 million on top of it.

So it's a good deal for him.

He's, he's looking at making, 95 million and the possibility of another 10 million on top of that.

Yeah, it's been a great, it's been a great fit for him, his, his second act, and it goes, it goes pretty quickly too.

I mean, they made the trade for Matthew Stafford, and now he's going to What is this for him, Mike, in Los Angeles?

Is this year five or year six for Stafford?

Year five.

year five.

Six.

So five years- Six as, as an, as an LA Ram.

Five years ago.

Okay, six.

This is year six.

Yeah.

Year six for Stafford, with the Rams.

So it's, it's a You have to go back I'm, I'm thinking He's I used to think Matthew Stafford, Lions.

Now I'm having a hard time of thinking of the Rams, and I know Jared Goff was there.

I'm, I'm, I'm having a hard time thinking of Jared Goff as the quarterback with the Rams.

I associate Jared Goff with the Lions.

I associate Matthew Stafford with the Rams.

But I think he gave you an answer that is not a cliche.

I know a lot of guys say it, but I can tell this is, this to me seems a little bit different when he says it's a family decision.

We know when Stafford won the MVP, he brought his whole family up there, his girls all dressed alike, as he won the award.

And so I, I think this is really something that is He could play into his 40s.

I'm not sure he will.

He'll play deep into He's not gonna be like a Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady, I don't think.

I think it is very much, it's year to year with the Rams, but I think it's a year to year thing with his, with the women, the women, he, and young women of his household.

You mentioned Jared Goff, that to you Jared Goff is a Lion.

To some, Jared Goff is a Ram.

I don't know if you saw this, but to Jeremiah Love, Jared Goff is Andrew Garfield because he was on the St. Brown Brothers podcast and they were showing him pictures of NFL players, and the first one they showed Jeremiah Love was Jared Goff and he didn't know who it was.

And he said, "I thought it was Andrew Garfield."

So if he'd won a Super Bowl, maybe Jeremiah Love would know.