Matthew Stafford reveals real reason why he turned down Tom Brady’s Raiders and the Giants to re-sign with the Rams
Matthew Stafford shed some light on his decision to stay with the Los Angeles Rams and the conversations with the team.
In late February, the quarterback and the Rams agreed to a reconstructed contract to keep him in the City of Angels.
The adjusted deal came after the Rams gave Stafford’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, permission to speak with other teams about his market value. During that period, Tom Brady and the Raiders tried to lure Stafford to Sin City. He was also linked to the New York Giants.
Speaking on the New Heights podcast, Stafford reiterated wanting to stay in Los Angeles and shared the anxiety he felt before the deal was cemented.
‘That was a little nerve-wracking there for a little bit,’ Stafford shared. ‘Just trying to figure out what’s gonna go down but happy to be back wearing Rams colors, playing in Sofi, doing the thing.’
‘I think it was kind of a joint process, right? Like, it wasn’t just… I wasn’t a free agent. I still had two years left on my deal,’ he continued. ‘We kind of worked something out last year at the 11th hour to kind of figure it out right before training camp… with the understanding that, ‘Okay, we’re gonna come back and readdress this if I wanna play again the next year.’
Matthew Stafford opened up about returning to the LA Rams after being linked to the Raiders
Stafford signed an extension with the Rams in March 2022 and had two seasons left on that deal with $4m guaranteed in 2025 and no guaranteed money in 2026.
In the same podcast, he also addressed the trade rumors and lifted the lid on his exit from Detroit after 12 years with the Lions.
‘Obviously, there’s some trade rumors and some things like that. A little bit tough on your family just cause you don’t really know what’s gonna be next. I remember when I was getting traded from Detroit to LA, a couple weeks before that, I made it known that I wanted to be traded from Detroit.
‘I can’t tell you how much time I spent on Zillow at that point looking at houses in all these places. And I’m sitting there thinking, ‘Man, where am I gonna be? Where are my kids going to school?’ All this kinda stuff. Just because of what was out there and what was going on.
‘I think in the end, I know they wanted me back, I wanted to be back. We just kinda had to figure that out and get to that point and we did. I’m sure as hell happy that I’m gonna be here for at least another year and hopefully some after that.’
Last season, Stafford completed 65.8% of his passes for 3,762 yards with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 16 games.
He returns to LA for a fifth season after leading the Rams to a 10-7 season before losing to Minnesota in the second round of the playoffs.
