Matthew Stafford reportedly opposed reworking Rams' contract
The Los Angeles Rams' offseason primarily saw them shed salary, an effort which restructuring quarterback Matthew Stafford's $160 million contract would've further enhanced. But on that note, was Stafford against reworking his deal?
On the July 13 edition of "The Herd," Colin Cowherd said that Stafford was indeed against a contract restructure.
"I was told by a source I trust that they [Rams] wanted to redo his [Stafford] contract; he wasn't interested. It limits what they can do, and they were frustrated with him," Cowherd said. "And I could also see them next year taking a quarterback because the way to catch up in this league with personnel is [a] rookie quarterback [and] go buy four good players."
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Rams reportedly tried to trade Matthew Stafford this offseason.
Stafford, 35, is entering the first season of a four-year, $160 million contract ($130 million guaranteed) with the Rams, who inked the quarterback to said deal after beating the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI, their first season with him under center. Stafford threw for 4,886 yards and 41 touchdowns, while completing a then-career best 67.2% of his passes in the 2021 season. With that said, the Rams followed up the championship season with a disastrous 2022 campaign.
A combination of injuries to Stafford and fellow stars Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp, among others, low-lighted a 5-12 Rams season. Stafford appeared in just nine games due to a head/neck injury, his last appearance coming in a Week 11 loss against the New Orleans Saints.
Across the nine games that he appeared in, Stafford threw for just 10 touchdowns and posted an 87.4 passer rating, a 15.5-point drop from 2021 (102.9).
Earlier this offseason, former NFL executive Michael Lombardi said on "The Pat McAfee Show" that the Rams tried with "a lot of effort" to trade Stafford before the option bonus on his new contract kicked in.
Los Angeles released eight-time-Pro Bowl linebacker Bobby Wagner one year after signing him to a five-year deal; it traded wide receiver Allen Robinson — one year after signing him to a three-year, $46.5 million deal — and a seventh-round draft pick (No. 251 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft) to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a seventh-rounder (No. 234 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft). Furthermore, the Rams traded six-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Miami Dolphins for a 2023 third-rounder (No. 77 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft) and tight end Hunter Long.
Stafford enters the 2023 season with 52,082 career passing yards (11th in NFL history) and 333 career passing touchdowns (12th in NFL history).