Matthew Stafford just turned 36 in February, making him one of the oldest quarterbacks in football. That doesn’t mean he can’t still play at a high level, though.
He showed last season that he’s still one of the best in the league at his position, finishing eighth in MVP voting and fourth in the Comeback Player of the Year race. Despite the fact that he’s approaching 40 years old, Stafford has shown no signs of slowing down.
And with three years still left on his contract, it’s reasonable to think he could play for the Rams through the 2026 season.
Sean McVay was asked about Stafford’s future with the team and how long the Rams think he’ll play during a recent interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio, and he’d be happy to have No. 9 as his quarterback for as long as he wants to play. That being said, the two sides are taking it a year at a time, which is perfectly understandable.
“As long as he wants to play,” McVay said. “I thought he played his best ball that he’s played down the stretch for us. He was a key factor in leading us to a 7-1 finish. Obviously Carson [Wentz] came in and did a good job against the Niners when we had already kind of clinched our playoff spot. But I thought he was excellent at Detroit. I thought he was excellent in the second half of the season after he comes back off of the injury where he missed some time with the thumb, missing the Green Bay game and half of the Dallas game. But he was disciplined, he was seeing the field, he was being able to get all his eligibles involved. He had such great command and ownership of what we were doing, and then he was able to create off schedule. And it’s a real credit to the work that he puts in. I think the best way that you can demonstrate authentic leadership is modeling the way. He’s been doing that here with us this week. He’s done that with his guys at the beginning, parts of Phase 1 in the offseason program. And, you know, we’re taking it a year at a time, but as long as he wants to play, we’re fortunate to have him as our quarterback and you know how lucky I feel to have him doing that.”
Stafford threw 24 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions in 15 games last season, missing a game and a half due to injury and sitting out Week 18 for rest reasons. The last time he was healthy for a full season, he threw 41 touchdown passes and led the Rams to a Super Bowl in 2021.
There’s no reason Stafford can’t take Los Angeles to the pinnacle again in the next three years, either.
Perhaps the biggest question with Stafford right now is his contract situation. He’s looking for more guaranteed money beyond the 2024 season, which is a sign of him wanting to play more than just one more year, and also an indication that he wants it to be with the Rams.