
Experts predict that the Rams will soon cut ties with their \$84 million standout player.
The Los Angeles Rams have been consistent contenders across Sean McVay’s eight-year tenure as head coach, and the team is poised to be a threat to win the NFC West Division and make a deep playoff run yet again in 2025.
That said, the team clearly already has an eye turned toward the future. There has been no better evidence of that during this offseason than the Rams’ willingness to let quarterback Matthew Stafford explore the market for a potential trade.
Stafford, who was taken first overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2009 NFL draft, will turn 37 next season, marking his 17th year in the league. After evaluating other opportunities and finding them wanting, he inked an extension to stay in Los Angeles and is now under a two-year, \$84 million contract that runs through 2026.
Some analysts expect 2025 to be Stafford’s swan song.
“Matthew Stafford is back for another year, but there’s a strong possibility he’ll choose to retire when it’s over,” Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report wrote on May 9. “And if the Rams don’t see the upside in a costly, aging quarterback—he’s posted a 91.8 passer rating since 2022—they might opt to move on from him as well.”
Gagnon predicted that, one way or another, the Rams will probably need a new starting quarterback by next offseason—or even before this fall’s trade deadline. According to ESPN, the only other QBs on their roster right now are 33-year-old Jimmy Garoppolo and former Georgia standout Stetson Bennett.