37 year old Matthew Stafford is entering his 17th NFL season and is already dealing with a sore back before the season starts.
Matthew Stafford is no stranger to injuries, as he labeled injury prone at the beginning of his career. It was less Stafford’s fault for the injuries as it was playing for the moribund Lions back then. Stafford’s talent was always apparent he just never had help outside of having hall of fame wideout Calvin Johnson. Now entering his 17th NFL at the age of 37, Stafford is already dealing with a sore back that will cause him to miss some practice time. Luckily for the Rams its Stafford’s 5th season with the same coach and offense, so they will be fine. Letting Jimmy Garoppolo and Stetson Bennett have some reps will be beneficial should Stafford miss any real games.
Stafford has been a tough SOB throughout his career and his arm talent has not wavered yet, so he will still be a serviceable option at quarterback for any fantasy player. Stafford finished 2024 as QB19 with 20 passing TDs on a team that lost a lot of production due to injuries to Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. Barring injuries the Rams offense should rebound with Stafford finishing as a potential top ten QB for the 2025 season.
Author: Jesse Baldwin @J_Baldwin51
Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay told reporters that ...
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (back) is ...
According to Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, ...
Sean McVay says star quarterback Matthew Stafford is “feeling good” ahead of training camp, although the team will take a modified approach to his preparation as he enters his 17th year.
Matthew Stafford has been dealing with soreness in his back but has been throwing ahead of training camp. The team will allow their star quarterback to ease his way into offseason drills. There should be no concern regarding his Week 1 availability at this point.
Fantasy managers should expect more of the same from the Rams offense this year. Puka Nacua is being drafted as a first-round wide receiver and should be a dynamo catching passes from Stafford. I currently have him as my WR4 in redraft. I also like Davante Adams’ value going in the 3rd and 4th rounds. The 32-year-old has shown no signs of slowing down. I believe he’ll be a strong WR2 in 2025.
–Blake Stachel (@bllakkay)
37-year-old Matthew Stafford is still playing strong as he enters his 16th season in the NFL. He will be entering his fifth season with the Los Angeles Rams; they both struck lightning in their first season together that ended with a Super Bowl victory. Now, he’s signed a new contract with the team.
The team has had varying success since the Super Bowl, although Stafford’s play has remained strong even when the team’s injury luck has severely held the team back. The quarterback was set to make $58 million over two years and now this new deal will pay him $84 million dollars over two years, noting that he’s already collected $4 million. Both years are fully guaranteed.
Stafford is still a strong play at quarterback especially in Superflex fantasy formats. He finished as QB19 with most of his top weapons missing time last season. With a healthy Puka Nacua and newly added Davante Adams to replace the departed Cooper Kupp, the team returns running back Kyren Williams and tight end Tyler Higbee. Rookie running back Jarquez Hunter and tight end Terrance Ferguson add to the offensive arsenal. If the team stays healthy, Stafford could have a top 10 season, making him a player to have in all formats.
Author: Jesse Baldwin (@J_Baldwin51)
In a conversation after the NFL Draft, the ever-optimistic Sean McVay shared how he hopes that Stafford is in the Rams organization for a few more years.
LA Rams HC Sean McVay spoke about QB Matthew Stafford in a Sirius Radio interview, stating:
“We have a chance with him every time he’s at the switch, and love working with him. And I think he can play as long as he wants, but fortunately, I’m hoping it’s a couple more years.”
After winning the Super Bowl in February of 2023, the Rams have fallen short of their ultimate goal, missing the 2023 playoffs due to Stafford’s injury, and nearly knocking off the eventual 2024 Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Before restructuring his 2025 contract with the LA Rams, Stafford was the center of trade rumors to the Giants, among other teams. There was also talk of Stafford retiring prior to the 2025 NFL season. However, both of those options were put to rest once the Rams stepped in and restructured his contract. Stafford’s future is murky, and it may depend on how the Rams perform this year, and what the management strategy is toward quarterback. The Rams did acquire a second first round pick in the 2025 NFL rookie draft, as a possible piece to acquire a replacement for Stafford in the 2026 NFL draft.
Author: Bradley Stalder @FFStalder
Cooper Kupp is coming back home to play for the Seattle Seahawks.
Cooper Kupp is moving on from the Los Angeles Rams to play for the Seattle Seahawks. The free agent wideout has signed a deal with the Seahawks for 3 years and $45 million.
Much will be made about what impact this has on Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Njigba was the WR-9 in 2024. He logged 100 receptions, 1,130 receiving yards, and was No.12 in targets with 137. Cooper Kupp is at the stage where he is going to need to be moved around the formation with favorability towards the slot role. This poses a problem for JSN as he was No.1 in slot snaps last season with 701.
This is also a head-scratching move as Kupp will be 32 when the 2025 season starts. From an efficiency standpoint last season, Kupp was 60th in fantasy points per target at 1.75 and 65th in expected points added at +23.5. While Matthew Stafford can support multiple alpha weapons in Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp with optimism towards Stafford supporting Nacua and Davante Adams in 2024, Sam Darnold does not inspire the same level of confidence in supporting both JSN and Cooper Kupp.
As this move is puzzling from a redundancy standpoint at the wide receiver position, it also brings questions about the stage in which the Seahawks are as far as team building towards being a winning team. Adding an aging, oft injured receiver who will be 32 is not ideal. The Rams have won the ‘sign a 32-year-old’ sweepstakes while the Seahawks are running in place.
The Rams and Seahawks are seemingly headed in different directions. While real NFL circumstances are to be noted, take advantage of any dip in JSN’s dynasty stock and best ball ADP by scooping him up anywhere you can!
Author: Jeremiah Retzlaff (@coachretzlaff1)
After weeks of speculation, quarterback Matthew Stafford stays with the Los Angeles Rams on a reworked contract.
After flirting with the Giants and Raiders, an impromptu meeting at a Montana spa with Tom Brady, and a TMZ worthy spat between football insiders at a Starbucks, Matthew Stafford finally chose to stay in LA. Stafford leaving the Rams would have been the biggest offseason news story, so far. It never really made much sense, however, for him to leave the familiarity and comfort of Sean McVay’s offense and the beautiful, billion dollar dome stadium. The issue was money all along. Stafford just wanted to be paid commensurate with his level of play. Neither the team nor the player wanted a split. The details of the deal have yet to be released. There is reason to believe the Giants and Raiders could have paid more, but familiarity wins out.
Matthew Stafford finished 2024 as QB19 with 3,762 passing yards 20 passing TDs at a 65.8% clip. Stafford had to deal with injuries to most of the offense and the only constants were himself and running back Kyren Williams. Despite all the injuries the Rams still made the playoffs. It is likely that the team will be better in 2025 with a cleaner bill of health. Look for Stafford to justify his new contract with a top 10 QB finish in 2025.
Author: Jesse Baldwin (@J_Baldwin51)
