Rams' Matthew Stafford addresses latest retirement whispers

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is once again addressing retirement rumors hovering over his status. 

"I don’t think I’ll go until the wheels completely fall off," Stafford said about potentially riding off into the sunset during a Friday appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show," per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. "They’re wobbling a little bit right now as we speak." 

Stafford turns 36 years old in February and was the subject of numerous stories regarding a potential retirement. He was evaluated for concussions on multiple occasions last fall before ultimately being diagnosed with a spinal cord contusion. Most recently, the one-time Super Bowl champion has dealt with a thumb injury.  

The 3-6 Rams are on their bye and next host the Seattle Seahawks (5-3) on Nov. 19. 

In an article published Friday, ESPN's Seth Wickersham predicted that Stafford will retire from playing this winter.  

"To be clear, I have no inside information," Wickersham noted. "But I watched how ready and optimistic Stafford was during the Rams' training camp, and this season, while a known rebuild, has been brutal. It's the second straight season in which he has gotten beat up every week, too, taking a sack on 7.5% of his dropbacks since the start of 2022. He has banked in the neighborhood of $300M during his career. He has won a Super Bowl. And he has numbers that will merit serious Canton consideration. So factoring all that in, my prediction is that Stafford calls it a career after the season."

For his part, Stafford sounded prepared to play at least through January 2025 when he spoke on Friday. 

"I love playing this game, I love competing," he said. "I love being in the locker room. I’ll never get that again, so I get as many opportunities to do that as I can. I love this team, I love the city, it’s been a blast. Obviously had a lot of success in our first year and trying to duplicate that this year, next year, whenever it is. I enjoy playing too much to hang it up." 

Stafford reportedly declined a request from the Rams this past offseason to restructure the contract extension he signed in March 2022, and Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio mentioned in July that the signal-caller's $31M salary for next season is already fully guaranteed. In short, Stafford has plenty of reasons to stick around the NFL as an active player for at least a little while longer.