Rams QB Matthew Stafford contradicts COO about contract

Controversy may be brewing between the Los Angeles Rams and quarterback Matthew Stafford ahead of the upcoming season.

As shared by Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic, Stafford indicated an earlier report claiming the Rams approached him about potentially restructuring the four-year contract extension he signed after the 2022 season is, in fact, accurate. 

"I’m always in contact with them, again, on everything in those regards," Stafford told reporters about the matter. "They did, and I’ll keep all of that stuff, those kinds of conversations in-house. I’ll just leave it at that." 

Stafford reportedly "frustrated" the Rams by declining their request. 

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio mentioned on July 18 that he's under the belief the Rams "regret" signing Stafford to an extension that included $63M fully guaranteed at signing and another $57M that became fully guaranteed this past March. That same day, Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff said during an appearance on The Athletic's "11 Personnel" podcast that "there were no discussions with Matthew about restructuring his contract." 

Per Rodrigue, Demoff added that "there was no need to restructure" Stafford's agreement. The executive also poured cold water over any notion that the Rams actively attempted to trade the one-time Super Bowl champion this offseason. 

Stafford sang somewhat of a different tune regarding his contract. 

"I don’t know what the technical term of it is, but we had conversations on that kind of stuff," he said. "I’ll leave it at that." 

Following Super Bowl LVI, Stafford dealt with lingering elbow issues throughout 2022, went through multiple concussion scares and ultimately appeared in just nine games before a spinal cord contusion prematurely ended his season and sparked numerous retirement rumors that he shot down earlier this spring. 

As Florio pointed out on Thursday, Rams head coach Sean McVay offered a nonanswer when asked about Stafford's contract and instead said the organization prefers to "just keep some of that stuff in-house." 

Stafford took a different approach via his comments, and one wonders if that could cause some problems behind the scenes if the Rams fail to win on a consistent basis this fall.