Giants GM Joe Schoen jockeys to be front-runner in Matthew Stafford sweepstakes

The Los Angeles Rams would love to persuade veteran QB Matthew Stafford to return to finish out his current contract that lasts through 2026. But over the course of time, Stafford's compensation is scheduled to dwindle as he ages. While that made perfect sense at the time the Rams and Stafford inked the deal, now Matthew Stafford is second-guessing the original terms of that deal.

After all, this could be the last contract of his NFL career. As such, he wants to squeeze as much cash out of the NFL as possible. The thing is, the Rams are probably the wrong team to attempt that hold out of training camp to ransom for more money. That is because the Rams do a pretty good job of assessing the value of a player before they make the offer. To a player like IOL Kevin Dotson, that no-haggle approach to contracts is a blessing.

But for Matthew Stafford,t hat no-haggle approach seems to be an ever-increasing hurdle to overcome.

I don't think that the LA Rams are a stingy team. I just believe that the team needs to shed money on offense to pay some of the team's defensive standouts. And the fact that the team spent far more on the offensive side of the football than any other team did not help the offense score points. In fact, despite being the top offense in terms of payroll expense, the team was the 20th-ranked offense in terms of points on the scoreboard.

And the defense put up plenty of points to help the cause.

Money should not be a primary motivator for an NFL player. But of course, it's easy for me to say that because I've never had to negotiate an employment contract that led to millions upon millions of compensation. Nor have I ever worked a job that has sent me to medical professionals with a:

• Spinal Cord Contusion - 2022
• Banged up thumb on my primary hand - 2023
• Banged up ribs - 2024

That's just the past three seasons. There is a laundry list of repairs required in the offseason for Matthew Stafford. Whether minor or major, he emerges each NFL season with issues that need medical attention and/or intervention to put his humpty-dumpty form back together again. And after the 2024 NFL season, Stafford is finally contemplating retiring at some point.