by Paul Teetor
Matthew Stafford is now the $55 million man.
The single most important position in all of sports is the quarterback in football. More important than the pitcher in baseball, the goalie in hockey or the point guard in basketball.
That’s because the quarterback is involved in every single play on offense, whether it’s a running play or a passing play. No team can win in the NFL without a great quarterback with a shotgun arm and superior leadership qualities. That’s why they get paid the big bucks, far more than any other position in their chosen sport.
So it was a big deal this week when the Rams made it official: after weeks of speculation about his future, Quarterback Matthew Stafford signed a one-year contract extension with the team.
The deal, which adds one year and $55 million to his current contract, will keep Stafford with the Rams for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.
Now the quarterback picture for the Rams, which had been murky up until last month, has been solidified far into the future. It’s Stafford’s team for at least the next two years, but realistically for as long as he wants it (or as long as he can stay healthy, which for the 38-year-old Stafford is always a question mark.)
Meanwhile the Rams top draft pick last month, number 13 overall pick Quarterback Ty Simpson of Alabama, will watch, listen and learn until Stafford retires or gets injured.
Stafford was acquired in a 2021 trade with the Detroit Lions and immediately led the franchise to a Super Bowl title at SoFi Stadium in his first season with the team. In five seasons with the Rams, he has risen to fourth all-time among the franchise’s passing yards leaders, third in passing touchdowns and second in game-winning drives. And that’s after only five years with a franchise with a proud heritage of great quarterbacks like Bob Waterfield, Roman Gabriel, and Kurt Warner.
But in 2025, Stafford reached a new level, winning the first NFL Most Valuable Player award of his career after throwing for a league-leading 4,707 passing yards and a career-high 46 touchdowns while completing 65% of his passes. He led one game-winning drive during the regular season, then led two in the playoffs to push the Rams to the NFC championship game, where they lost a thriller to eventual Super Bowl Champion Seattle.
In recent years, Stafford and Rams general manager Les Snead have had an understanding that the quarterback would go year-to-year, with the possibility of retirement on the horizon. But Stafford announced during his MVP acceptance speech in February that he would return to the Rams for a sixth season in 2026, the final year on his contract.
Throughout the offseason, the Rams expressed confidence they would reach terms on a new contract with Stafford, even after the franchise drafted Alabama quarterback Simpson in the first round of last month’s NFL draft.
And now the two sides have reached an agreement that, with an extra year attached, will give Stafford some security when it comes to deciding his future following the 2026 season.
After the Rams’ selection of Simpson, head coach Sean McVay emphasized that the Rams were still Stafford’s team, and that they would operate on Stafford’s timeline in regards to when they would initiate a succession plan at quarterback.
“It is Matthew’s football team,” McVay said. “I’m also excited to add Ty. What a blessing it is for him to be able to learn from Matthew and to be able to come into this atmosphere and environment. Whenever that time comes for him to get an opportunity to be Matthew’s successor will be on Matthew’s terms. I think that’s really the important thing here.”
Simpson was the second quarterback taken in the draft, behind Francisco Mendoza, the Indiana quarterback who led his team to the national championship and was taken first overall.
Prior to the draft, some experts claimed that Simpson actually graded out better in the film from this past season in terms of arm strength and decision making, which the scouts refer to as “processing” as a play unfolds.
But there was a catch: Simpson only had 15 starts at Alabama because he had to wait his turn to become the starting quarterback at the football factory known as Alabama University.
So now he’ll get to learn the pro game at the feet of the reigning NFL MVP and the single greatest offensive mind in the league in Coach Sean McVay.
It’s worked out perfectly for the Rams and for Simpson – so far.
Clippers Get Lucky
The disastrous Paul George-Kawhi Leonard era is officially over, even though Leonard remains on their roster. This week marked the start of a new, brighter era for the Clippers.
That’s because the Clippers beat the lottery odds last week and won big on their mid-season trade of stalwart center Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers. The Slovenian big man had been the defensive anchor of the Clippers ever since they fleeced the Lakers out of the promising center seven years ago for a bag of potato chips and a popsicle to be named later. The Lakers have been searching for a reliable front-line center ever since while the Clippers quickly developed Zubac into the best defensive/rebounding center in the league.
But when the Pacers came calling near the trade deadline last winter and offered their first-round draft pick for Zubac, the Clippers decided it was a Godfather offer: too good to refuse. They decided to take a gamble and possibly, just maybe, land a young franchise player in the draft who could be a cornerstone for their new era.
The Pacers took a big gamble too. Under the terms of the trade, the Clippers would acquire the Pacers draft pick if – and only if – it fell between the fifth and ninth overall slots. If it fell between the first and fourth picks, the Pacers would retain it. Similarly, if it fell between picks 10 and 30, the Pacers would keep the pick.
Jackpot: the lottery balls came up fifth, the best possible scenario for the Clippers.
The criticism of the Pacers around the league was so intense that the team’s General Manager, Kevin Pritchard, offered an abject apology to the team’s fans for making such a bad, reckless trade. He said the odds were in his favor, but the Clippers beat the odds. They now have their highest draft pick since they took Blake Griffin at number one overall way back in 2009.
There are five college players – all freshmen – who are projected as possible franchise players: A.J. Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, Darius Acuff, and Caleb Wilson. If the Clippers get one of those five players at the June 23 draft – most likely Wilson or Acuff – the Clippers will be well on their way to becoming relevant again.
Contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com. ER
