As speculation continues to swirl around Matthew Stafford’s future, Rams general manager Les Snead doubled down on the team’s desire to reshape its roster around the star quarterback this offseason.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Snead called Stafford “one of our pillars” while expressing the faith team brass still has in the 35-year-old after an injury-shortened season for the QB and the Rams’ tumultuous 5–12 campaign. Snead’s remarks followed a report that surfaced earlier Thursday from The Daily Coach’s Michael Lombardi, who stated Stafford is “fully available” but can’t be moved due to the remaining money in a four-year, $160 million extension he signed last offseason after L.A.’s Super Bowl LVI victory.
“I think we’ll definitely rely on Matthew, he’s definitely one of our pillars,” Snead said, via The Athletic. “He’s definitely someone we’re going to rely on, (who) we’re gonna have to rely on as we do remodel this.”
Snead also acknowledged Stafford as a key reason why he referred to the Rams’ offseason plan as a “remodel” and not a rebuild, given his ability to still affect winning. He went on to then explain L.A.’s vision to get back to success by fortifying a core led by Stafford, coach Sean McVay and players like Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald.
“To me in a rebuild you would just bulldoze the house down, and again rebuilding from the ground up. But when you have someone like Matthew Stafford, players like Cooper Kupp, Aaron Donald, there’s some weight-bearing walls there that we still have, and we’re going to rely on those – don’t want to put pressure on them – and then at point remodel around them with maybe different teammates, different partners,” Snead added, per NFL.com.
While the Rams GM’s comments may put the trade chatter to rest for now, only time will tell what type of return the club’s investment in the 14-year veteran yields in the coming seasons. The team has until March 15, the start of the new league year, to pick up Stafford’s 2023 option, which would net him $27.5 million in guaranteed money. Stafford, who is under contract until ’26, is also due $31 million guaranteed in ’24 and set to account for cap hits of $20 million and $49.5 million, respectively, over the next two seasons.
Stafford dealt with a myriad of injuries in the ’22 season, including multiple concussions and a spinal cord contusion that ended his year after nine games. He recorded 2,087 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions in nine starts.
