Two years ago, the Rams replaced the three remaining years on defensive tackle Aaron Donald’s contract with a new deal. Today, the Rams did the same thing with quarterback Matthew Stafford, resolving a contract drama that had simmered for months and — but for the new deal — might have boiled over.
Although coach Sean McVay didn’t come out and say it, it’s clear there was concern about Stafford possibly not reporting for camp if they didn’t adjust his contract.
“Here’s the thing I’m excited about, he is here,” McVay told reporters. “We were able to solve that. I’m going to focus on the things that we can control and fortunately, we don’t have to really worry about those things.”
They don’t because they got it done. He could have held in. The fact that they worked to get the contract done before Stafford reported strongly suggests that, without a deal, he wasn’t showing up.
Now, he will. And in time we’ll find out what he got instead of what he was due to make.
Under the prior deal, Stafford had a $31 million salary this year, fully guaranteed. In 2025, he had a non-guaranteed $5 million roster bonus and a $27 million non-guaranteed salary. In 2026, he was due to earn a non-guaranteed $5 million roster bonus and a non-guaranteed $26 million salary.
That’s $31.33 million per year over the next three years, with only $31 million guaranteed.
The issue first surfaced after the Rams didn’t draft a quarterback in round one. Stafford wanted guarantees beyond this season. He presumably got them. Within the next day or two, we’ll know whether he did, and how much of a raise he received.
Source Agencies
