There has been no shortage of drama in Los Angeles’ relationship with Stafford. In the 2025 offseason, he briefly flirted with forcing a trade to Las Vegas before reconsidering the move and then used that leverage to secure a new contract with the Rams. After declaring that he was definitely coming back in 2026 right after receiving the NFL MVP at the 15th annual celebration NFL honorsmany prepared for similarly protracted negotiations.
Instead, the Rams dealt with the issue fairly quickly both for the upcoming season and beyond, agreeing to a contract that gives Stafford the freedom to choose annually whether to return and includes built-in deadlines for such decisions.
“It’s year-to-year because I think it’s fair to the team, it’s fair to me, my family,” Stafford explained. “I don’t want to sit there and say, in 24 months, I’ve got to be ready to play another season of football, I’m like, ‘Whoa, that just seems like a lot.’ I know I’m ready to play this year. And hopefully by the end of next year I’ll feel good and I’ll be ready to play another game after that, and maybe we’ll just keep going like this.
“But to commit to more than that feels a little scary and I feel a little unfair to the team and to myself. The last thing I want to do is sign some five-year extension and after a year, be like, ‘Oh man, I’m ready to retire, I want to spend time with my family,’ and they’re sitting there with four years on the books and they should have planned football around me.” and don’t be all the way into it either.
“It’s been great. (Rams GM) Les (Snead) and his group and (Rams coach) Sean (McVay) and all of them have been great to me and (Rams owner) Mr. Kroenke to let me go year by year while building things in for the coming year so we don’t have to sit there and negotiate after every game I want to know how far I want to know. excited to play this year and then we’ll see after that.”
Following the deal, Los Angeles hedged against Stafford’s sudden retirement by spending their first-round pick on Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, who they hope will develop into Stafford’s long-term replacement.
It’s not often that teams can seriously compete for the Super Bowl while he’s building a roster, but the Rams have positioned themselves to do so. It just might not happen as quickly as you would think.
“I remember when I was getting traded to LA, just having those first conversations with Sean, and it was like, ‘You know, I don’t know, I think maybe 3 or 4 (years) max(imum) left feels right, go in that 15-16 (years) range,'” Stafford said. “Now, it’s like, I don’t know, maybe I’ll just keep rolling. My girls love watching me play. Might as well be.”