The Rams have Matthew Stafford back for this season.
Stafford, now 37, is year-to-year.
The Rams don’t have a heir apparent on the roster. But they do have two first-round picks for 2026, having acquired the Falcons’ top selection for next year. That gives them ammunition to trade up for a quarterback in 2026, if they so desire.
Rams coach Sean McVay, though, is hoping for at least two more years out of Stafford.
“We have a chance with him every time he’s at the switch, and love working with him,” McVay told Adam Schein on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio. “And I think he can play as long as he wants, but fortunately, I’m hoping it’s a couple more years.”
Stafford agreed to a revised contract this offseason to stay in Los Angeles after being given permission to seek a trade. The Raiders and the Giants showed interest.
“When you’re able to have real conversations with people you love and care about, you can go one of two ways. You can either get further apart, or you can get closer,” McVay said. “And there is no question in my mind that he and I are closer than ever. There’s a lot of appreciation; there’s a lot of gratitude that we were able to work through some of those things.
“To ultimately, I heard [General Manager] Les [Snead] say it, to renew the vows. And I think there is kind of a renewal of appreciation for the opportunity to continue to work together. It doesn’t go lost on me how fortunate I am to be able to work with somebody as special as he is, both mentally, physically, and more importantly what he means with how he moves as a man, and how he positively affects and influences his teammates and people he’s around.”
Stafford has kept the Rams contenders. He is 19-12 as a starter the past two seasons, completing 64.2 percent of his passes for 7,727 yards with 44 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.
“I think he came out of this season feeling really good physically,” McVay said. “And one of the things that I think is a tremendous credit to him, you look at [those] playoff games that he’s played in with us, the four his first year where he goes 4-0, leads us to a Super Bowl, you go to the ’23 season, he did everything in his power to try to will us to a victory against an excellent Detroit football team in ’23. And then this past year, he balls against Minnesota, and he does his thing against Philadelphia.”
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