Sean McVay: Matthew Stafford has earned the right to be on a year-to-year basis
· Yahoo Sports
Matthew Stafford arguably had the best season of his career in 2025, winning his first MVP award en route to leading the Rams to the NFC Championship Game.
But while Stafford is returning for 2026, at some point, Los Angeles will have to face the reality that sooner or later, the quarterback's playing career will come to an end.
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Is that something the team is actively thinking about, or is it an issue the club will face when it comes?
“I don’t think about that, ever,” McVay joked when asked just that at the annual league meeting on Monday morning. "No, you think about it short- and long-term. And here’s the thing, he’s earned the right to be on a year-to-year basis. If he told me that he wanted to play a couple more years, I’d believe him. If he told me it’s one more year — but he’s earned that right. So, we understand that.
“I do think he’s in a situation where it wouldn’t shock me if he played more than one year. But we also have to be prepared, that if this is the last year, what does that look like?”
McVay mentioned wanting to have Jimmy Garoppolo back on the club, and if it’s not Garoppolo, potentially pivoting to fellow free agent Kirk Cousins. But neither Garoppolo, 34, nor Cousins, 37, appears to be a long-term solution. While Stetson Bennett is on the roster, headed into the last year of his rookie deal, he has yet to play in a regular-season game.
So at least for now, any long-term successor at QB would have to come from an external source.
As for the present, while Stafford and the Rams went through a prolonged discussion about his contract last year — with the quarterback being allowed to meet with other teams before ultimately returning to L.A. — things have been a lot more effortless on that front in 2026.
“We’ve had a lot of good discussions and dialogue,” McVay said. “And you know what, it’s really along the lines of, what do you and Kelly [Stafford, Matthew’s wife] really want? Does that look like, hey, are we going to keep that kind of year in place? Do we do anything additional? Or do we put two years in place? So, he’s working through that.
“But it’s been a lot smoother than last year, to say the least.”
Stafford, who turned 38 in February, led the league with 4,707 passing yards and 46 touchdowns in 2025, winning his first MVP award. He was also an AP first-team All-Pro for the first time.