- The Los Angeles Rams have agreed to a contract extension with quarterback Matthew Stafford. The Super Bowl champion was the subject of trade rumors at the NFL scouting combine.
- Stafford is set to play his 17th season in the NFL and is just 191 passing yards shy of 60,000 in his career.
- The New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders had discussions with Stafford about leaving Los Angeles.
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Super Bowl-winning quarterback Matthew Stafford is staying in Los Angeles. The 16-year veteran agreed to a contract extension with the Rams Friday, Feb. 28, after trade rumors swirled at the NFL scouting combine.
Stafford did have discussions with the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders––Tom Brady even got involved for the Raiders––but ultimately, he and his agent reached a middle ground to stay in LA.
Why did the Rams decide to keep Stafford?
During his season-ending press conference, head coach Sean McVay best explained why the Rams wanted to re-sign the 37-year-old quarterback.
“I’m sure proud of the body of work and really proud of the way that he’s played,” McVay said. “The coolest thing you can say about Matthew is he shines the brightest on the biggest stages. When you look at the seven playoff games that he’s played in since he’s been a Ram, he certainly gives you a chance every time you step out on the field, and for that, I’m sure appreciative.”
During the 2024 season, Stafford completed 65.8% of his passes, notching 3,762 yards with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Entering his 17th season, he is just 191 yards shy of 60,000 in his career, a milestone only nine other quarterbacks have reached.
What will quarterback-needy teams focus on now?
With Stafford off the market for now, the rest of the league’s quarterback-needy teams can concentrate on other veteran options like Russell Wilson, Justin Fields or Sam Darnold. Meanwhile, there’s also first-ballot Hall of Famer, Aaron Rodgers, who the New York Giants are now said to be focused on as a backup plan.
Then there are the top quarterback prospects in this April’s NFL draft, many of whom are at the combine in Indianapolis during the week of Feb. 24. Cam Ward of Miami, Shedeur Sanders of Colorado, Jaxson Dart of Mississippi and Kyle McCord of Syracuse will be highly coveted by teams looking to lock down the position for years to come.
How important is having a franchise quarterback?
On Tuesday, Feb. 25, Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll discussed what getting the right quarterback means for a team’s success and what it takes to get there.
“The quarterback position is going to be highly contested, and if you look back at when we started at Seattle, and how we built the competition to find the proper guy that would take over in that job, that was a very intricate, elaborate process,” Carroll said of his time with the Seattle Seahawks. “And then you saw [Russell Wilson] won the competition because it was a wide-open competition that was very well designed and organized, and it worked out fine.”
Following that acquisition, the Seahawks went to two Super Bowls and won it all in January 2015. Carroll also quoted his mentor, former San Francisco 49ers head coach Bill Walsh, saying, “Quarterback is the hardest position in sports to play.”
While the Rams were able to keep their guy on Friday, close to a dozen teams are still searching.
