Should Rams Worry that 2025 is Matthew Stafford's Last Season?

The Rams have a solution at the quarterback position for 2025, but not necessarily the future, including 2026. Despite being signed to a handsome, two-year extension in March, Stafford is not believed to be "all in" for anything past this season.

On a recent episode of the Los Angeles Rams insider Podcast, Host Claudette Montana asked SI NFL Senior Writer Hondo Carpenter if the Rams should be concerned if this is his final season.

"Well, you have nothing to be concerned about. Why? Two words, Les Snead. Because this guy can draft someone and develop them, which he' clearly hasn't yet. So nobody's got his attention, or he can go pull off a big trade. This is something that makes Les Snead amazing. He understands draft picks are valuable and they're valuable to other teams, but if what I want isn't available in the draft, I'm willing to give up draft capital to go get it. How many people, when he traded Jared Goff from Matthew Stafford, were blown away by the trade?"

"Here is an interesting fact. You're going to appreciate this. Claudette, when I was at the last owners meetings, I was talking to a GM about GMs around the league, and we got to Les Snead. And he goes, 'You want to know what's really cool? Not every GM in this league will pretty much pick up the phone for every other GM. He says, But Les is one of maybe five guys that the other 31 all pick up because they respect them. He doesn't come at it trying to rip off your team, and so he's very open. This is what I need, but I know I gotta pay for it, and Les Snead walks into any NFL room in America and instantly carries in respect. So I don't think there's anything to be worried about."

"You have to imagine, too, that they are starting to think ahead, and their wheels are spinning about the future, right? I mean, the NFL Draft, there's a lot of great quarterbacks that will be going into this next draft, and then, as you mentioned, they have some options to pick someone up from another team and trade, if that's what they want to do. So we'll see, or he might play till 40 or 42, whatever, I don't know. [But] this guy, It feels like he still has a lot of gas in the tank. So we'll see," continued Carpenter.

"And here's the thing, I can tell you, as somebody that's known Matthew a long time, he doesn't like the game, he loves it. He is one of those guys that it hasn't changed him. He has generational wealth that his children will not even ever be able to spend. But the thing I love about and respect Matthew, is he is still that kid playing football with his cousins in the backyard, and he still loves the game. I hope this isn't his last year. I want him to play forever, because I love watching guys like that. But don't rule out that this is not his last year. For what it's worth, [Rams WR] Puka Nacua told me last year that he thinks he [Stafford] can play till 45, so we'll see."

No matter what Stafford decides, Los Angeles has a Ram with a plan in Snead. But if Puka is on point, it won't matter.