LOS ANGELES – He’s been “sleeping better” since Matthew Stafford agreed to an adjusted deal, but Los Angeles Rams manager Sean McVay said he never thought the quarterback was on the roster in 2025.
“No,” McVay said. “That wasn’t something I thought would happen before.”
A reworked contract was born after the Rams gave Stafford agent Jimmy Sexton permission to talk to other teams about his worth in the quarterback market. Stafford, who signed the expansion with the Rams in March 2022, had two seasons left on that deal.
“We’ll always have to make decisions on our part… if he wasn’t here,” McVay said. “And it never felt like I was getting close, and it didn’t allow me to go to my heart.”
McVay said negotiations are expected as Stafford and Rams “always understand that when they adjusted contracts last year, he won’t play under the numbers he’s due next year.”
“It was something we knew that was always coming,” McVay said. “And when he felt good about the way the season was over, and obviously we eced about how he wanted to continue playing and playing at a high level.
“and [I] Fortunately, we were able to reach the compromise and conclusion that everyone really feels good. I think that’s a great reflection of him and our group. ”
McVay said he expects to have these conversations next year as well.
“This is positive. It took me about seven months last year,” joked McVay. “It’s about three weeks this year, so if I have to do this, it could be about two or three days next year.”
The Rams have two quarterbacks on their 2025 roster. Stafford and 2023 fourth round Pix Stetson Bennett. McVay also said that Jimmy Garoppolo is hoping to return to back up Stafford, but the quarterback has been getting the “right” sign to get interested from other teams.
Stafford, 37, enters his 17th NFL season and his fifth with the Rams. In 16 games last season, he completed 65.8% of his passes for 3,762 yards, with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
