Matthew Stafford Will Take ‘Some Time’ to Ponder Potential Retirement This Offseason

[Ram_Rally]

Someone from Stafford's camp has already spilled the beans that he's likely to return. He's just giving the answer most would give after a heartbreaking loss. Heck, I'm only a fan, and I'm contemplating a 30-day football detox to deal with it. Just wait a week or two, when he's had nothing to do, and his girls don't want to throw the football around with him in the backyard lol.

 

[Ram_Rally]

When they did his recent deal they all said it was year to year
No negotiating needed

Doesn't that mean they have to sit back down and discuss it every year?

 

[Ram_Rally]

if he stays and they come up short again then his rep will take a bigger hit than if he retires. I guess it's how much he wants to ramp up like he needs to and if he even can, he is getting older. then how does his years look in regard to performance after his 1 Superbowl. he's always had good numbers, just not too many dances. He should not linger on a decision this time. rams have to move on if so.

I don't think it will. He's likely to win the MVP this year, and most people believe we've failed him over the past 3 years. His rep will be fine. Besides, another year means he climbs even higher up the all-time stats list. And who was the last QB to retire after having a good season? Most don't feel content until they've emptied the tank.

 

[PukaStan12]

If Stafford retires, I can't see Adams staying either, and it would send a giant domino effect throughout the organization. I hope for our sakes that Stafford doesn't retire, but I can't blame him if he wants to call it a career; he wins this MVP, and he's done everything that's possible to do for a quarterback, save for Super Bowl MVP, and he's got a young family of girls.

I’m pretty sure Davante already stated the only way he comes back is if Stafford returns.

 

[Psycho_X]

When they did his recent deal they all said it was year to year
No negotiating needed

Winning a MVP gives new incentive and changes the convo? Certainly to the agent I'm sure. Who knows, if I was in his position and age I'd want to fuck off from football 100% for at least a few weeks to assess even if I was 99% sure I wanted to come back as is.

 

[dieterbrock]

Doesn't that mean they have to sit back down and discuss it every year?

Of course, he's under contract for '26 but they all agreed it will be discussed. Stafford doesnt have to start negotiating now with retirement inuendo
IMO they set the parameters and will hammer something out when the time is right

 

[Merlin]

My take is the same as before we were eliminated on Sunday and the same as it was 12 months ago after the Philly elimination game.

There’s too much reliance on this offense to be great through Stafford’s arm. He’s awesome but he’s 37 ffs.

As fans we love our guys but objectively speaking and when you look around the league….

There’s only one elite skill guy on offense (besides Stafford) and that’s Nacua.

Put a couple of elite offensive players around him that can elevate a play call.

Our RB’s are average. Skilled but slow that get ankle tackled constantly. Questionable hands.

Our TE’s are average. Skilled but slow with too many drops.

WR3 is JAG and zero behind that.

RB is the big one. Giving the QB a big play option where he doesn’t have to do anything but hand off. More receivers with dynamic YAC abilities also needed.

The recent draft/FA mantra of bringing in tough “football players” who love football has been a positive thing but IMO it may be hurting us a bit in the skill position evals(Nacua being the outlier). Having players who buy in and will give you 110% every day is awesome but you still need players who are simply gifted physically. Players who can take over games.

I hope Stafford returns but I’d understand if he doesn’t. He needs help. EVERYTHING relies on his arm and brain doing elite things.

Every single time they have given Stafford a new pass game weapon we've felt it. OBJ plus Kupp made Stafford unstoppable because one of them would be singled up and he'd feed them. Adams had a similar effect, where they add him and Stafford puts up an MVP season.

So I agree that third wideout is required. We need a big and rangy bastard for outside the hash that Stafford can feed in 4 minute, or in the redzone. And in this draft you don't have to take that WR at the top either. There's quite a few good ones into second round range.

Then what that does is we don't need Ferguson to make a big jump. Of course we want him to. But if he's just an inline type so be it, and he can battle with the TE room to win that role as our TE1 while we go back to more 11 sets. Or if he does make a jump then we will have competition between him and the WR3 rook for that snap and situation. Both being big targets that offer different specialties inside or outside the hash.

Lastly load the defense. That gets Stafford the ball back more often and with more dangerous weapons you can get that avalanche effect where you fuckin roll regular season opponents and end up with a high win total, and that coveted top seed they fucked up this year.

Rams really have nobody to blame but themselves. They were not likely to win four in a row vs the best teams on the road with their shitty ass corners. But winning three in a row, with two at home, and with better weapons on offense and real corners on defense sounds like a title team. So that MFer (Stafford) better come back or I'm gonna fly to LA and take a shit on his expensive lawn.

 

[XXXIVwin]

Our RB’s are average. Skilled but slow that get ankle tackled constantly. Questionable hands.

Totally disagree, Mojo. We had the #1 offense in the League. Our RB duo is WELL above average, perhaps not elite, but SOLID. The stats bear that out, and our RB's pass the "eye test" for me as well. Kinda hard for me to believe that Rams fans don't see that our run game has been a consistent, effective threat.

Our defense was in the bottom five of the League over the second half of the season. IMO, it's beyond obvious what this team needs to improve-- upgrades on the back 7 of the D.

 

[Jacobarch]

Click bait.

I think the real decision is what the Rams do this offseason. We wont get to the SB next year if we don't make some personnel and coaching changes. I hope he gets real with McVay.

 

[FrantikRam]

I think the ONLY possible scenario here is that he doesn't want to go to a new team, but probably has a figure in mind to play at, and this year we just need to give him what he wants. My guess is ~$55 million.

No way he goes to another team (i.e. no way the conversation that we had last year is repeated), and I think there is a 99% chance he is back. He played one of the best playoff games in NFL history against that defense, in that environment (I believe I read he was 7-10 on throws over 20 yards which was the best ever in a playoff game), he played phenomenal all year, he is still enjoying it, and we can run it back even better than what we had last year with our resources. No brainer.

 

[RamDino]

He'll be back. He's having fun playing and he knows the Rams are close. He just needs some time to relax. He also knows that when it's over... it's OVER. No more fun with the guys... no more competing... no more Sundays to look forward to... and no more excitement. He knows he's got the rest of his life to be with his daughters. And did i mention the 50 mil?

 

[OnceARam]

OFC is coming back. It is his entire identity as a person. And he is healthy.

Just think how good our offense will be when we get another starting caliber receiver and some backup OL.

 

[Ram_Rally]

Of course, he's under contract for '26 but they all agreed it will be discussed. Stafford doesnt have to start negotiating now with retirement inuendo
IMO they set the parameters and will hammer something out when the time is right

Oh yeah, that makes sense to me. I think he's being completely genuine in that he's considering what he wants to do. I just wasn't sure what you meant. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[ScotsRam]

Not quite the Brett Favre drama, but pretty close to it each of the last 2-3 off seasons with Stafford

To be fair this happens with every high level QB of his age. Brady, Brees, the good Manning, Roethlisberger etc etc all did this.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Someone from Stafford's camp has already spilled the beans that he's likely to return. He's just giving the answer most would give after a heartbreaking loss. Heck, I'm only a fan, and I'm contemplating a 30-day football detox to deal with it. Just wait a week or two, when he's had nothing to do, and his girls don't want to throw the football around with him in the backyard lol.

Got any of them *Scratching neck* sources for us junkies

EDIT (ahhhh, hits so good):

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport: Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford plans to return for 18th season | 'NFL GameDay Morning'

 

[Mojo Ram]

Totally disagree, Mojo. We had the #1 offense in the League. Our RB duo is WELL above average, perhaps not elite, but SOLID. The stats bear that out, and our RB's pass the "eye test" for me as well. Kinda hard for me to believe that Rams fans don't see that our run game has been a consistent, effective threat.

Our defense was in the bottom five of the League over the second half of the season. IMO, it's beyond obvious what this team needs to improve-- upgrades on the back 7 of the D.

Cheers. I respect your take on the backs but I’ll die on that hill. Way too much reliance on McVay’s play call, Stafford and Nacua.

The current RB’s aren’t a problem but they aren’t solving the problem either. They’re fine. Stafford needs more.

Yeah the defense needs a re-tool and struggled to get off the field too often. I didn’t touch on that.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Cheers. I respect your take on the backs but I’ll die on that hill. Way too much reliance on McVay’s play call, Stafford and Nacua.

The current RB’s aren’t a problem but they aren’t solving the problem either. They’re fine. Stafford needs more.

Yeah the defense needs a re-tool and struggled to get off the field too often. I didn’t touch on that.

The current RBs solve a lot of problems but you got to USE THEM to solve the problems and not go away from them in games.

 

[XXXIVwin]

Cheers. I respect your take on the backs but I’ll die on that hill. Way too much reliance on McVay’s play call, Stafford and Nacua.

The current RB’s aren’t a problem but they aren’t solving the problem either. They’re fine. Stafford needs more.

Yeah the defense needs a re-tool and struggled to get off the field too often. I didn’t touch on that.

Same, I respect your take. But I think you're gonna be lonely dying on that hill. The way McVay talks about KW, it's just clear that coach LOVES the guy, and thinks he represents everything that a Ram should be as a player and leader and teammate and person. Just hard for me to imagine that McVay is gonna spend big bucks on an upgrade when he obviously thinks KW is a "pillar" on offense.

For me, it's about prioritizing salary cap allocation. Yeah, it would be great to upgrade at RB-- just like it would be great to upgrade at any position. But do we want to spend $ upgrading a position from "solid" to "great" when there are several glaring areas of weakness on D? I just don't see how we would have the resources to upgrade at RB when an upgrade on D is the first and foremost priority.

Disclaimer: if the Rams move up in the draft and get Jeremiah Love, I will deny everything I said in this thread and maintain that I was in favor of upgrading at RB all along.

 

[Mackeyser]

He’s coming back. How do I know? Because Super Bowl 61 is in SoFi and him going out a Super Bowl Champ with two victories in SoFi is the kind of narrative the NFL loves. He rides off into the sunset and then we put in a full court press on a veteran QB who would love to be in a McVay offense with a solid defense…

And look…there’s Burrow…in a Zac Taylor, McVay derived offense pissed at no OL or defensive help just waiting to be rescued and Incy is cheap as hell and after next year will wanna go cheap with a boatload of picks.

So yeah, Stafford is coming back.

We’re winning the Super Bowl with him next year.

Then we’re getting Burrow and drafting like a mofo like we’ve been doing, establishing the next dynasty.

 

[Tumak61]

Getting back to the championship even with Stafford will be very hard. I think our best shot was this year unfortunately. We were completely healthy for the most part. It's a tough hill to climb again given how much went our way this year. Hope he comes back but his back is still an issue.