The Contract That Changed Everything: Matthew Stafford and Raiders Find a ‘Common Ground’ in Contract Talks, Paving a Way for a New Chapter
Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the Raiders have emerged as a front-runner to acquire QB Matthew Stafford from the Rams.
Bonsignore says there are other teams in the mix for Stafford, but Raiders minority owner Tom Brady has reportedly spearheaded the team’s pursuit of Stafford.
Stafford is reportedly seeking an extension that would pay him $50 million or so per season along with “substantial” guarantees, per Bonsignore.
Interestingly enough, Bonsignore says that the Raiders and Stafford’s camp have “found common ground on what a potential new contract could look like.”
Bonsignore adds that “it’s now about coming to terms with the Rams on a trade package.”
As for trade compensation, Bonsignore says the Rams’ starting point will “undoubtedly will be the Raiders’ first-round pick at sixth overall.”
That could be too high for the Raiders and Bonsignore adds that Las Vegas will “want to keep the No. 6 pick at all costs.”
Bonsignore could see the Rams countering with a second-round pick this year and their 2026 first-round pick, but the Raiders may push for two second-round picks instead.
Other teams reportedly with interest in a potential Stafford trade include the Titans, Browns, Giants and Steelers.
That’s a lot of interest for a quarterback, so the Rams could get a pretty decent return for Stafford this offseason should they opt to go that route.
Stafford, 37, is a former first-round pick of the Lions, who took him with the No. 1 overall pick out of Georgia in 2009. He was in the final year of a five-year, $76.5 million contract when he and the Lions agreed to a five-year, $135 million extension back in 2017.
Stafford was involved in a blockbuster trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for QB Jared Goff and draft picks in 2021. He signed a four-year extension worth $160 million that included $135 million guaranteed a year later.
The Rams and Stafford later reworked that deal going into the 2024 season, moving money up from the back of the contract. Stafford is due $27 million and $31 million in the final two years of his deal.
In 2024, Stafford appeared in 16 games for the Rams and threw for 3,762 yards while completing 65.8 percent of his passes for 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
We’ll have more on Stafford and the Rams as the news is available.
