Why Matthew Stafford’s appearance at OTAs is important sign for Rams future

Matthew Stafford wants the Los Angeles Rams to re-do his contract to add more guaranteed money to the deal and he deserves it too, but waiting for answers at the negotiating table isn’t stopping the quarterback from participating in voluntary OTAs. Stafford is at practice with Rams teammates, including Stetson Bennett, and hasn’t shown any signs yet of a potential holdout.

 

Matthew Stafford was on the field during OTAs today.

 

Last month, Sean McVay acknowledged an NFL Network report that Stafford wants more guaranteed money on his contract but was not clear whether the QB would be on the field this week. https://t.co/9viFkxuOak

 

— Sarah Barshop (@sarahbarshop) May 20, 2024

After the Detroit Lions made Jared Goff the second-highest paid player in NFL history on a per-year salary basis, the Rams should be expected to be held over the fire by Stafford’s agents. Stafford is better than Goff, he’s won a Super Bowl, and the Rams don’t have a really good backup plan in place. It just makes sense that Stafford would want to be rewarded just the same as when the team handed out raises to Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp after winning the Super Bowl in 2022.

 

Stafford is making $40 million per year, but the going rate for quarterbacks of his caliber is no less than $50 million per year. His entire 2024 salary is guaranteed at $31 million, but there’s nothing that L.A. owes him next year and if anything were to go wrong, the Rams might even be compelled to move on in 2025 when he has a $5 million roster bonus and a non-guaranteed salary of $27 million. Stafford should be looking for the Rams to rip up his old deal and turn it into something more like a three-year, $150 million contract with $100 million guaranteed. That seems more in-line with what a 36-year-old Super Bowl-winning quarterback should be seeking from his team. That’s the price of not having Nick Foles as your starter.

 

But for now, Stafford is practicing and not making a fuss and that’s what we’ve come to expect from him. He’s always been a professional and tried to avoid conflict in the media, so we should probably expect two things: Stafford will stay quiet publicly and the Rams will pay him soon.

 

 

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