Under his current contract, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford will make $27 million in 2025. He's looking for more. He deserves more. He'll undoubtedly get more.
So how much more? When considering the current dynamics of the market, he could end up in the $50 million per year club.
Currently, nine quarterbacks have new-money averages of $50 million or more per year: Dak Prescott ($60 million); Joe Burrow ($55 million); Jordan Love ($55 million); Trevor Lawrence ($55 million); Tua Tagovailoa ($53.1 million); Jared Goff ($53 million); Justin Herbert ($52.5 million); Lamar Jackson ($52 million); Jalen Hurts ($51 million). (Patrick Mahomes has a new-money average of $45 million; however, the Chiefs have moved money around to give Mahomes better four-year cash flow than most of the higher-paid quarterbacks.)
So where should Stafford fit on that spectrum? Although he recently turned 37, he still has plenty of gas in the tank. And he's currently performing at a much higher level than his chronological peers, including Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, and Kirk Cousins.
Look at the list of names in the $50 million club. Compare Stafford to each one. Which would you prefer?
It's very easy to make the case that Stafford is worth at least as much as Goff. He's the player the Rams couldn't wait to dump. The contract to which the Rams attached an extra first-round pick as part of the trade that flipped Stafford for Goff. Stafford won a Super Bowl with the Rams, Goff did not.
The question of whether Stafford is worth $50 million per year and whether he'll find a team to pay it are two different things. But in a year without many great options in the draft and a limited crop of veteran starters (Rodgers, Wilson, Cousins, Sam Darnold, Justin Fields, Daniel Jones), maybe someone will offer Stafford the kind of deal that puts him among the 10 highest-paid quarterbacks in the league.
