New Details Emerge in Matthew Stafford Contract Negotiations
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network revealed on the Rich Eisen Show on Friday that the Los Angeles Rams have allowed Matthew Stafford’s agent to talk to other teams to gauge his market value if a trade does occur.
Stafford and the Rams are expected to re-visit his contract this offseason after a renegotiation in 2024 left him without much in the way of guaranteed salary going forward. That contract hangup has yet to be resolved, and that continues to be the cause of uncertainty surrounding his future with the team, prompting trade rumors from around the NFL. The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of several teams that have been linked to the 37-year-old quarterback.
“My understanding has been that the Rams have been in conversations with his agent, that they’ve also given his agent permission to talk to other clubs just to figure out, ‘Hey, if he became available, if there were a trade, what were the numbers be elsewhere?’” Pelissero told Eisen. “That takes care of multiple things. It takes care of, number one, what Matthew Stafford could get if we got to a trade because you wouldn’t be able to execute a Matthew Stafford trade without having a new deal in place, but also, it gives the Rams an idea, and Stafford an idea of, ‘Hey, we’re going to try to work together. Are we going to be able to work out a contract to keep him in L.A.?’
The Rams reportedly would demand a first-round pick in return for a trade for Stafford, according to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher-Report. That certainly would be a steep price for the Steelers to pay for trading for the 37-year-old signal caller.
Schultz reported that several teams have called the Rams about the availability of Stafford.
According to extensive reporting by Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic, there is a hesitation by the Rams to pay Stafford an amount of money in 2025 that may hamper the team’s future efforts to lock up its young core.
“If you’re trading for the guy and it’s going to take a significant pick – let’s just say it’s going to be a second-round pick – you’re going to want to know, ‘Am I getting this guy for one year? Two years? Three years?’ And that’s why the Rams have been willing to let Stafford’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, who’s very experienced in these matters, to go out and just figure out, what would other teams be willing to do?” Pelissero said.
“It certainly sounds as if the priority is for Stafford to return to the L.A. Rams, but again, this went all the way into July, if not August last year before they were able to work out a deal. We’ll see which direction this goes here, but to the point you made at the top, it would make sense for this to one way or another come to a head within the next few weeks here because everybody is going to need an alternative if they’re not able to work something out in L.A.”
Pelissero reiterated that the Rams are just trying to gauge Stafford’s market value. It has not reached the point of trade discussions.
“To my understanding, they have not gotten to the point of actually negotiating trade compensation,” Pelissero said. “That’s a separate conversation. Right now it’s about, what do the numbers need to be for Matthew Stafford to come back? What would the numbers be if Matthew Stafford went elsewhere? That’s what they’re navigating here.”
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