Camila Sosa
The well-deserved reward for Matthew Stafford’s great performance in his first season with the Los Angeles Rams came immediately after signing a contract extension.
As reported by ESPN journalist Adam Schefter, the super Bowl-winning quarterback last season extended his contract for four more seasons and $160 million, 135 of them fully guaranteed.
Stafford had one year and $23 million left on his contract for five seasons and $135 million with the Detroit Lions in 2017. That said, the quarterback will keep wearing the Rams uniform for the next five seasons and earn a total of $183 million.
It is worth remembering that Stafford was acquired in March 2021, from Detroit, by fellow QB Jared Goff, two first-round picks and one third-round pick.
The quarterback was the Lions’ first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft and in 12 seasons with the team he only played three times in the postseason. However, in his first opportunity in Los Angeles, Stafford scored 12-5 and guided the team to the second Super Bowl in their history.
With this new contract, the 34-year-old remains the fifth highest paid quarterback on the circuit earning $40 million per year. In 2017, when he signed the aforementioned contract with the Lions, Stafford became the highest paid in the league, so being in this position is nothing new to him.
Matthew Stafford and His Sweet Arrival in Los Angeles
As we discussed earlier, Matthew Stafford was one of the important pieces for the Rams and Sean McVay to take the thorn out of 2018 when they fell defeated, in Super Bowl 53, to Tom Brady’s New England Patriots.
Therefore, it is not surprising the great reward he has received from the organization to which he paid to grow the confidence of having given two first round picks for his talent.
Stafford set a record for the organization with 4,886 rushing yards in a single season, his 41 touchdowns matched the team’s best record he shares with Kurt Warner and clinched the Rams’ first divisional title in the NFC West since 2018.
But Matthew Stafford’s good performance was not only there. In the postseason, a somewhat unexplored terrain for him, he took all his experience in the league to respond in very complicated moments and turn the score on several occasions where it seemed that the Rams would be eliminated.
In four games played, he threw a total of nine touchdown passes, including three in the Super Bowl, and he managed to throw 1,188 yards through the air. Undoubtedly, he is an excellent acquisition for a franchise that in recent years had made great changes to be able to leave with a championship ring.
