Contract Talks Between Rams & Matthew Stafford ‘Ongoing’

According to Jourdan Rodrigue, contract talks between the Rams and QB Matthew Stafford are “ongoing.”

Rams HC Sean McVay was available to media at OTAs on Tuesday but declined to address the situation, saying he preferred to keep those discussions “in-house.”

The veteran has been at voluntary OTAs and has not stayed away despite some of the rumblings and the lingering contract issue.

Rodrigue notes McVay was not able to say if Stafford would participate in training camp without a new deal, but the team has a history of getting contract situations worked out before then. 

Stafford has been looking for more guaranteed money on the remaining two years of his contract to provide security from the Rams over the next few years. Though he’s within sight of 40, Stafford believes he has plenty of football left. 

He’s due to make $31 million guaranteed in 2024 but has two more years remaining on his contract that include no guarantees. Stafford is due $32 and $31 million in the final two years of his deal. 

There were persistent rumors about Stafford’s future last offseason, including that a spine injury could force him into retirement and that the Rams explored potentially trading him.

However, he remained in Los Angeles and was a huge part of their surprise playoff berth in what was supposed to be a rebuilding season. 

Stafford, 36, is a former first-round pick of the Lions, who took him with the No. 1 overall pick out of Georgia in 2009. He was in the final year of a five-year, $76.5 million contract when he and the Lions agreed to a five-year, $135 million extension back in 2017.

Stafford was involved in a blockbuster trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for QB Jared Goff and draft picks in 2021. He signed a four-year extension worth $160 million that included $135 million guaranteed a year later. 

He’s due a base salary of $31 million in 2024, all of which is guaranteed. Stafford is due $32 and $31 million in the final two years of his deal. 

In 2023, Stafford appeared in 15 games for the Rams and threw for 3,965 yards while completing 62.6 percent of his passes for 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

We’ll have more on the Rams and Stafford as the news is available.