Matthew Stafford signs extension, keeps Rams quarterbacked through 2027
Stafford’s one-year extension tied the Rams to a 38-year-old quarterback through 2027, even as they drafted Ty Simpson to press a future transition.
Matthew Stafford’s new extension told the Rams to keep pushing now, even if the bill arrives later. By agreeing to a one-year deal that runs through the 2027 season, Los Angeles doubled down on a 38-year-old quarterback who just delivered one of the best seasons of his career and remains the center of its roster construction.
The contract, valued at $55 million and capable of reaching $60 million with incentives, gave the Rams more certainty at the most important position in football. It also clarified the team’s tolerance for risk. Stafford has crossed into the late-career phase where health, durability and annual negotiations shape every decision, yet the Rams chose to extend the window rather than force a handoff to the future.
That future is already in the room. Los Angeles used the 13th overall pick last month on Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, a move that looked like succession planning on paper. But the extension showed the Rams were not ready to hand over the offense. Sean McVay has made that stance plain, and the timing of this deal fit the larger pattern: Stafford remained the starter for as long as he wanted to play, and the Rams were willing to build around him while preparing an eventual transition.
Stafford’s case for the extension was strong. He won the 2025 AP NFL Most Valuable Player award, earned first-team All-Pro honors for the first time in his 17-year career and led the league with 4,707 passing yards and 46 touchdown passes while throwing only eight interceptions. He also guided the Rams to two road playoff wins before their run ended in the NFC championship game. At 64,516 career passing yards, Stafford ranked sixth all-time, a marker that underscored how much production Los Angeles was still buying.
The Rams have been paying for that production in stages since acquiring Stafford from the Detroit Lions in the blockbuster 2021 trade that helped fuel the Super Bowl LVI run. They gave him a four-year extension in March 2022, reworked the contract again in July 2024, and allowed him to measure outside interest in February 2025 before he stayed on another restructuring. McVay said in 2025 that he hoped Stafford would play a couple more years and later described the talks as “great dialogue” entering the final season of the prior deal.
This latest extension makes the franchise’s position unmistakable. The Rams are not merely keeping a veteran quarterback; they are betting that Stafford can still carry a championship pursuit deep enough to justify one more run at a narrowing window.
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