The Rams still want Matthew Stafford to be the team’s quarterback. But it’s more complicated than a binary up or down, yes or no proposition.
Stafford has received permission to talk to other teams. Recent comments from coach Sean McVay to the Fitz & Whit podcast make it clear that the two sides began exploring other options once it became clear that they didn’t agree on his contract value for 2025.
Stafford is currently due to make $27 million this year. That’s less than half the current market rate of $60 million.
“And so at the end of the day, we had something in mind, he had something in mind, and nobody was right or wrong,” McVay said. “And then, ultimately, you’re saying there’s a ton of interest, because this guy’s an incredible player.”
Still, McVay made it clear that the Rams want to keep Stafford.
“There’s no discrepancy on us wanting him to continue to lead the way and be our quarterback,” McVay said. “The interesting and the challenging dilemma and dynamics within this are, ‘Hey, how do you continuously as a head coach look at the short term and the long term and be able to figure out what does that really look like?’ There is no dispute — and let’s not get it twisted in regarding to anybody wanting him to be our quarterback. Now, there’s layers to it. You have to be able to say, ‘Hey, how do we continuously build? How do we support him? How do we make sure that he’s getting what is his worth relative to those things?’”
So, basically, they want him, but they don’t want to pay him what he wants. And so they gave him the opportunity to see what other teams will, or won’t, pay. The apparent hope is to get him to realize that the Rams’ offer falls within the broader framework of the market.
If, along the way, there’s a team that will both pay Stafford more and give the Rams a sufficient package of trade compensation, a trade could happen.
For now, it’s not imminent. But the door is open. The toothpaste, out of the tube. The question is whether both sides will be able to put it back in.
