In a show of how damaged the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders brands currently are, a new report claims Matthew Stafford turned down much better offers from both teams to return to the Los Angeles Rams for another season.
There were few bigger stories in the NFL over the last week than the future of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. While the 37-year-old has only played just four seasons with the franchise, he will go down as a team great for helping to bring them their most recent Super Bowl title.
In an attempt to win a second this past season, the two-time Pro Bowler restructured his contract to improve the team’s salary cap situation. However, the check has come due on that favor and Stafford wanted to get a pay bump or extension this spring. With LA hesitant to acquiesce to that request, it looked like he could be traded this offseason. And the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders were his top suitors.
Yet, despite being allowed to speak with both teams, Stafford surprised many by deciding to stick it out with LA. On Monday, some new insight was offered up from NFL insider Ari Meirov on the very lucrative offers the QB passed on last week.
- Matthew Stafford stats (2024): 3,762 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 93.7 passer rating
Matthew Stafford passed on multi-year, fully-guaranteed deals from Raiders and Giants?
“[The Raiders and Giants] were willing to offer a multi-year deal with full guarantees. They were willing to go that far to bring Matthew Stafford out of LA. And into their facilities to become their quarterback. Both those teams met with his agent Jimmy Sexton in Indianapolis. Exchanged those numbers, and they were ready and willing to talk to the Rams about a potential trade compensation package.
“But on Friday, Matthew Stafford ended up having that meeting with Rams brass. They all agreed this has been a bit contentious, ‘Yes, we have not respected you as much as we should have,’ and all agreed this was his best chance at winning.”
- Matthew Stafford contract (2025): Projected to be around $40 million
Meirov revealed that the Rams offer really doesn’t come close to what the Giants and Raiders offered. And essentially it is a one year pay increase with few guarantees for 2026. This means this situation could occur again next season, and Stafford ending his career in LA is far from guaranteed. The QB is expected to get a pay raise from $27 million to around $40 million in 2025.
Also Read: Las Vegas Raiders targeting these two Pro Bowl quarterbacks after missing out on Matthew Stafford