Earlier this offseason, there were rumors swirling that the Los Angeles Rams were interested in trading Matthew Stafford, and it appears we now know why they were trying to move off the 35-year-old quarterback.
According to Colin Cowherd of FOX Sports, the Los Angeles Rams approached Stafford about reworking his contract, but Stafford surprisingly declined the Rams request, which “frustrated” the team mightly.
“I was told by a source I trust that they wanted to redo his 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 rookie quarterback, go buy four good players.”
The Los Angeles Rams acquired Stafford from the Detroit Lions and immediately won a Super Bowl in his first year in Los Angeles. The team rewarded him with a massive long-term deal that was worth $160 million over the next four years, keeping him under contract until the conclusion of the 2026 season.
But the following year, it all fell apart as Stafford was a shell himself and missed eight games due to injury. The Rams went 5-12 and has seemingly entered a rebuilding phase, but given that the team still has high-priced players like Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp (along with Stafford) on the payroll, it seems like the team was interested in Stafford reworking his deal to give the team some flexibility as they look to retool the roster.
Unfortunately, Stafford wasn’t interested.
