The only way this happens is if Stafford gets the shit kicked out of him all season and he barely makes it thru injury wise.
But if he makes it thru relatively healthy and is still playing like a top 5-10 QB, there is *no shot* in hell he retires. None. Zero. Theres not a single Hall of Fame worthy QB that retired when they were still one of the best QBs in the sport. Unless you include Brady, who was 46 years old in 2022 and closer to being in the 10-15 range than top 5. But everyone else—Manning, Elway, Brees, Aikman, Young, Montana, Favre, McNair, Warner, Big Ben, Fouts, and on and on. Every single one of those guys retired because they were physically incapable of being the same player they were accustomed to being. Matthew Stafford *just* had the best season of his career. And not only that, but I think Stafford and McVay have a sense of shame about their previous title defense. And if they ever got the chance to try and repeat again, it would look much differently than 2022.