WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Throughout his conversation with local media Monday, Rams head coach Sean McVay made it clear:
Quarterback Matthew Stafford remaining a Ram "was always the end goal in mind," McVay said.
Stafford and the team agreed to terms on a contract restructure last Friday to keep the quarterback in Los Angeles, after giving Stafford and his agent permission to speak with other teams to gage his market value and help both sides work toward a contract number.
"When you go through these conversations, I think the thing that I'm grateful for is the collaboration and the communication throughout the process, where sometimes these things can be challenging," McVay said. "Matthew was great. I think Jimmy Sexton, Matthew's agent, was excellent. (General manager) Les (Snead) had a lot of dialogue with him, and then ultimately sitting down with Matthew and with (Matthew's wife) Kelly (Stafford), and then being able to have (Rams President) Kevin (Demoff), Les and (Vice President, Football & Business Administration) Tony Pastoors be a part of that, I think it was a really beneficial conversation. And I think ultimately, it's about the partnership and how important it is to have him leading the way. And so couldn't be more grateful, really excited about it, and been sleeping better these last couple days."
McVay said he can't speak on behalf of what conversations Stafford's agent had with others teams interested in Stafford, but reiterated the end goal was ultimately having Stafford return. Giving Stafford's agent permission to speak to other teams was meant to have open communication rather than keep things behind-the-scenes. McVay on the Pat McAfee Show on Monday also said it was informed in part by lessons learned from trading for Stafford and sending quarterback Jared Goff to the Lions.
McVay said losing Stafford "was never something that I ever thought would occur."
According to McVay, the financial terms of Stafford's contract adjustment will be under his existing extension, which he signed in March 2022 and has him under contract with the Rams through the 2026 season, operating on a year-to-year basis.
Asked how long that partnership will last, given the financial implications of younger players becoming eligible for extensions over the next 2-3 years, McVay said Stafford has "earned the right to be able to say, hey, I think he could play for a few more years, if that's what he wanted."
"But we've always had great dialogue, and I think it's really been kind of a year-to-year thing," McVay said. "He's obviously under contract for two more years with us, but as long as he wants to play, I know we're feeling really good about that."
When the Rams made the contract adjustment last year ahead of training camp, McVay said there was "always an understanding" Stafford would not play under the salary number he was due for this coming year and that another adjustment would be discussed at the end of the season.
"When he felt good with the way the season ended, and obviously we were all ecstatic about him wanting to continue to play and play at a high level," McVay said. "Now it's just figuring out the semantics of, all right, there's no way to put an actual value on what he means, but what does it look like to be able to fit it for the landscape of our football team, where we're at, knowing how many years you want to play, and what does that look like for the short- and the for the long-term? Fortunately, we were able to come to a compromise and a conclusion that everybody feels really good about, and I think it's great reflection of him and our group."
Because of that year-to-year arrangement, McVay expects to have that conversation again with Stafford next year.
"Oh, yeah, but here's the positive. Last year took about seven months, this year about three weeks, so maybe it'll be about two or three days next year if we have to do this," McVay said with a smile.
