Rams prefer Matthew Stafford at QB1, work through complex appraisal

INDIANAPOLIS -- Only Aaron Rodgers has more career earnings as an NFL quarterback than current Los Angeles Rams starter Matthew Stafford, but it's possible finances send the latter to a new destination for 2025. Rams head coach Sean McVay, who courted Stafford before Los Angeles traded Jared Goff and multiple draft picks in a swap of starting quarterbacks before the 2022 season, clarified Tuesday that the preference from the team's perspective is to stick with Stafford. But the Rams are in limbo as Stafford's representatives contact other teams to assess his market value, which required the Rams' signoff. In an interview with ex-NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and Andrew Whitworth, who played for the Rams and McVay before retiring, on the "Fitz & Whit" podcast, McVay attempted to clarify that Los Angeles would love to keep Stafford, 37. "There's no discrepancy on us wanting him to continue to lead the way and be our quarterback. The interesting and the challenging dilemma and dynamics within this are, 'Hey, how do you continuously as a head coach look at the short term and the long term and be able to figure out what does that really look like?'" McVay said on the podcast. Other teams are interested in Stafford, and reports of the Tennessee Titans considering the veteran instead of drafting a rookie and the Las Vegas Raiders weighing the value of chasing the 16-year veteran percolated Tuesday and Wednesday. NFL Network reported Stafford's recent visit with Raiders minority owner Tom Brady, who still had six seasons to go entering his 17th year in the league, was more a chance encounter at a ski resort in Montana. Whether Stafford and Brady's reps are playing damage control by releasing that information is uncertain. Stafford has two years remaining on his current contract with a salary of $27 million in 2025 and only $4 million guaranteed. By base salary -- $23 million -- Stafford is No. 8 in the NFL using current salary information. His cap number is fifth-highest in the league at $49.67 million for next season. The Rams view of the salary and contract came due to a difference of opinion with Stafford's camp. McVay said the Rams had "something in mind, (agent Jimmy Sexton and Stafford) had something and mind and nobody was right or wrong," so they hatched the plan to transparently gauge value. Even with the public appraisal pending, there stands a chance the Rams will decide to look at another quarterback. "There is no dispute -- and let's not get it twisted in regarding to anybody wanting him to be our quarterback. Now, there's layers to it," McVay said. "You have to be able to say, 'Hey, how do we continuously build? How do we support him? How do we make sure that he's getting what is his worth relative to those things?'" Stafford is among the league's statistical greats, ranked 10th all-time in career passing yards (59,809) and touchdown passes (377), and ninth in both pass completions and attempts. He's 5-2 with the Rams in the playoffs, including a victory in Super Bowl LVI in 2022, after going 0-3 over his 12 seasons in Detroit. --Field Level Media