Stafford turns 40 in February 2028 and will have to decide between retirement, negotiating yet another new deal or finding a new home to continue playing prior to the 10th day of the new league year.
The details of Stafford’s new deal are significant not because of the money he’ll be due in 2026 and 2027 — $45 million in 2026 and $50 million in 2027 — but because they place firm timelines on what has been an otherwise ambiguous process for the quarterback and the Rams over the last two offseasons. In 2025, Stafford flirted with the idea of leaving the Rams for another opportunity elsewhere (most notably, with the Raiders) before working out a deal to remain in Los Angeles, and while he quickly committed to returning in 2026, he and the Rams still took months to hammer out the details of his contract.
With this agreement, the process should be cleaner for both sides in the years ahead. He might also make a little extra cash along the way: Stafford can earn $5 million in incentives in each of the next two seasons if the Rams win the NFC Championship and the Super Bowl (with 70% play time in each game).
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