Former teammate claims Matthew Stafford insulted by Rams latest actions

There is little momentum pushing the Los Angeles Rams and Matthew Stafford towards compromising and hammering out a new deal. To be fair, the Rams have Stafford under contract through 2026, a deal that he and his agent inked years ago. So there is a dispute that centers on the business side of professional football. But how long will Stafford and the Rams remain on friendly terms while they struggle to come to terms on a reworked contract?

Some believe that it's only a matter of time until the relationship is soured beyond the point of no return. One NFL Insider, former Lions quarterback Chase Daniel, believes that friendly relationship has already soured to a point of no return:

Chase Daniel is not at a loss for words over potential NFL teams that are interested in trading for Stafford. He cites the fact that Matthew Stafford's entire career has been based on playing for a stadium team. In his mind, he claims that Stafford will want to either play for the Minnesota Vikings or return to the Los Angeles Rams.

Are the Vikings willing to trade for Stafford, and then pay Stafford what he feels he is worth? Per Good Morning Football host Peter Schrager, Matthew Stafford's bottom line is $50+ million to play in 2025. Yes, Schrager confirms some teams are willing to ink a contract like that.

We had hints of Matthew Stafford's mindset when his wife Kelly vented about the deteriorating status of contract (re)negotiations. Her insistence that the Rams had a lack of respect for starting quarterback Matthew Stafford was based on the underlying willingness of the Rams to meet Stafford's salary demands. There is always a bit of prestige that commemorates a player's status in the NFL based on what NFL teams are willing to pay for that player in new contract negotiations.

The Rams are willing to pay elite performers. While there is a loud contingent of Rams fans who are All-In on Stafford's vital role for the team, there are others who cite a declining level of production, a pattern of annual injuries that have created a lack of availability,

Is Matthew a Top-5 quarterback? Sometimes. He certainly showed up in a big way to defeat the formidable Minnesota Vikings and the red-hot Buffalo Bills. But for every great game from Stafford, he has a matching poor outing. The Rams needed a huge surge from a very young and inexperienced defense from Weeks 15 through 17. Stafford was only able to lead the offense to score 44 points in those three games.

The defense held opponents to just 24 points over those same three games.

Had the Rams not gotten Herculean efforts from the defense, the team may be in a different spot right now. Does this Rams - Stafford dispute get top billing in the 2025 NFL offseason if the team did not finish one or two key plays away from hosting the NFC Championship Game? Perhaps, perhaps not.

I don't think anyone can disagree that the team's efforts to get younger and better on defense have been a huge success. So the team has the momentum to turn the page on a stale and ineffective 2024 offense. Should the team hit the pause button and try to recapture those past glory days one more time? After all, the team and Matthew Stafford both realize that this won't last forever.

It's never easy to part ways with a winner. And veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford is every bit a winner. But he does not have exclusive rights to that. The Rams have won with other quarterbacks. I just can't envision the Rams emerging from a 2024 season with the most expensive offense seeking to invest even more into the 20th-ranked scoring offense in 2025.

Just as I cannot see Stafford and his pride being willing to play for anything less than his $50+ million salary demands in 2025. Stalemate.

As always, thanks for reading.

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