SEATTLE — The 2026 NFL offseason arrived sooner than the Los Angeles Rams had hoped. So, too, might another round of offseason drama.
Just minutes after they’d left the playing surface at Lumen Field, their second excruciating defeat there to the Seattle Seahawks – setbacks that ultimately defined a season that might have been so much more for L.A. – the question was already surfacing: Will quarterback Matthew Stafford, the league’s presumptive MVP for the 2025 season, be back in 2026?
‘I can’t generalize six months of my life 10 minutes after a loss,’ said Stafford, who passed for 374 yards – perhaps the majority of them on simply brilliant throws – and three touchdowns in the Rams’ 31-27 loss in the NFC championship game.
It was his latest – and last – performance of the best season, from an individual perspective, of his 17-year NFL career.
‘Appreciate the guys in this locker room a whole hell of a lot, everybody that helped me and helped our team be as successful as we were this year,’ Stafford continued. ‘And that’s all I’ll answer for you.’
A simple yes would have quashed 10 minutes and, maybe, at least a few months – if not six – of what could be wild speculation about his future. But Stafford wasn’t willing to give one.
You’ll recall we’re only 11 months removed from the Rams adjusting his contract to keep him in-house in 2025 – after rampant rumors regarding his status as teams like the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers tried to get their hands on him. Could a similar scenario play out again? Might 10 teams line up in an attempt to recruit him in 2026? Maybe more?
If Stafford, who will turn 38 next month, isn’t the league’s best quarterback, period, he was certainly its best one in 2025. He’s owed $40 million in 2026, the final year of his contract. Fifteen peers – insomuch as they share his position – of Stafford’s are scheduled to average more income in 2026, a list of passers that includes Dak Prescott, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, Kyler Murray, Deshaun Watson and Kirk Cousins, among others. All are younger (even Cousins) than Stafford, none are nearly as accomplished – and that was prior to the spectacular season he just completed.
“If he still wants to play – what the hell kind of a question is that?” said McVay. “You have to ask him. We’ve been totally present. I know that if he wants to, he’s still playing at a pretty damn good clip. He’s the MVP of the league, and if he’s not – I’ve got respect for everybody else – but this guy played at a level that’s just different.”
The Rams would certainly look almost unrecognizably different without Stafford but have more than $45 in salary cap room, per Over The Cap, to sweeten his deal and maybe even add to his supporting cast ahead of next season. One of the prominent players who joined the roster last year certainly enjoyed his first up-close view of the Matthew Stafford Experience.
‘It’s been a dream,’ said wideout Davante Adams. ‘It’s one of the best quarterbacks to ever play this game, and one of the coolest teammates I have ever had. I know I use that term with him a lot, but truly, I don’t know if I’ve ever played with someone who’s a baller and such an easy guy to function with.’
Assuming he sticks around and doesn’t create wholesale dysfunction for a franchise that otherwise should remain a Super Bowl favorite next fall.
