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Matthew Stafford is staying in Los Angeles.
The 37-year-old quarterback, who led the Rams to a Super Bowl win in 2022, agreed to a restructured deal with the Rams on Friday, according to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter. The financial details of the deal have yet to be revealed.
Stafford’s return to the Rams was in doubt after Los Angeles allowed him to meet with other teams last week. The two-time Pro Bowler was reportedly seeking a salary of around $50 million per year—more than double the $23 million base salary (and $27 million in total 2025 cash) he was expecting under his previous deal.
The Raiders and Giants were two of the teams interested in Stafford, and both explored a two-year deal for him with guaranteed money worth around $90 million to $100 million, The Athletic’s senior NFL insider Dianna Russini reported Friday. But Stafford ultimately chose to return to the Rams, who were the only team to come close to defeating the Eagles during their Super Bowl run last postseason.
According to Russini, with Stafford now off the market, the Giants have shifted their interest to another veteran quarterback: Aaron Rodgers.
The Raiders are also expected to explore other veteran quarterback options. According to Schefter, some candidates include Steelers quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, and Vikings free agent Sam Darnold. Las Vegas could also look to draft a new signal-caller, which could be Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders or Miami’s Cam Ward.
NFL: Tom Didn’t Tamper
Las Vegas was not able to secure Stafford—but minority owner Tom Brady did meet with him in Montana on Wednesday. However, the NFL cleared Brady of wrongdoing.
Multiple outlets reported that the NFL said “there is no issue here” because the Rams had granted Stafford permission to speak with other teams.
There were conflicting reports as to whether Brady and Stafford’s meeting was formal or a chance encounter. Fox Sports NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported Wednesday that the two met at Brady’s home in Montana to discuss joining Las Vegas. However, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported less than an hour later that they had a chance encounter at a ski resort and did not include extensive talks about Stafford joining the Raiders.
The conflicting accounts led to a reported verbal altercation between Schultz and Rapoport at a Starbucks in the JW Marriott Indianapolis lobby, not far from the NFL Scouting Combine.
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