Can Rams beat the clock against Cowboys market-setting contract for Prescott?

There will always be a financial component to any and every NFL football player. As fans, we find that aspect distasteful. We lobby hard for teams to pay start players whatever they demand, and then grow frustrated and angry when the money runs out. But it's a tough balancing act all the way around. For players who literally place their bodies, their health, and the quality of their future lives on the line week in and week out, making financial demands to ensure future financial independence seems like a small matter in the grand scheme of things.

For NFL teams, the agreement to share NFL revenues, set limits for all teams to adhere to in terms of an annual player salary cap, and the ultimate challenge of deciding who to pay, and who not to pay, has become an fiscal fitness exercise that seems to please nobody. And yet, like gargling with the foul-tasting Listerine mouthwash, the unpleasant moment is intentional. It preserves the competitive health of the entire NFL.

So what's the problem?

The problem arises when the team and the player's ultimate goals begin to stray out of alignment. That can occur at three points in a player's career:

• When the player's rookie contract expires, and they want to capitalize on earning the most money possible in their next contract
• When a player has a breakout season, and they believe they are due a significant uptick in compensation
• When a player ages and the team wants to allow the financial flexibility to onboard a talented successor, but the player insists that he has several years of game-playing left

Right now, you could consider LA Rams starting quarterback Matthew Stafford as fitting two of those three categories. But no matter how you view the Rams-Stafford current situation, one thing is clear. The alignment of what Matthew Stafford seeks and what the Rams' front office is offering have not met in the middle right now. You see, per Over the Cap.com, the last of Stafford's guaranteed money ends in 2024.

As of right now, there are no updates on the matter:

But, should that be a subject of serious concern for Rams fans?