Speculating on Matthew Stafford's football future has become an annual tradition.
That's not about to change, but Stafford admitted during an appearance on Chris Long's "Green Light" podcast that he might have been shortchanging himself when considering the shelf life of his NFL journey. All it took was a chat with Pro Football Hall of Famer Drew Brees to open his eyes.
"I think one of the things that surprised me was I was talking to Drew -- this was before last season -- and he was like 'how old are you again?'" Stafford recalled. "I was like, 'I'm 37' and he was like 'you might have your best five years of your career coming up.' And I was like 'huh,' never really thought about it that way.
"Drew saying that kind of lit a fire under me and gives you a little bit of belief that maybe an old guy can still go out there and spin it around a little bit."
Brees played until his age-41 season. From his age-37 season and on, Brees was voted to four Pro Bowls.
Stafford can certainly still spin it. He's coming off the first MVP season of his career, a campaign that saw his Rams come painfully short of a return trip to the Super Bowl.
Los Angeles' loss to Seattle in the NFC Championship Game has inspired an aggressive approach from the Rams front office this offseason, one that saw L.A. rebuild its secondary before swinging a blockbuster deal for two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.
The message is simple: The Rams are in it to win it all in 2026. But none of that exists without Stafford's presence.
Los Angeles' dealings with Stafford haven't lacked for drama. In the 2025 offseason, he briefly flirted with requesting a trade before thinking better of the move, then securing a new contract with the Rams. After stating he was definitely coming back in 2026 immediately after receiving the NFL MVP at the 15th annual NFL Honors, Stafford had many braced for a similarly prolonged negotiation.
Instead, the Rams handled the matter fairly swiftly, agreeing to a deal that gives Stafford the freedom to choose annually whether he'll return and includes built-in deadlines for such decisions.
"It is year to year because I think it's fair to the team, it's fair to me, my family," Stafford explained. "I don't want to sit there and, say, 24 months from now, I've got to be ready to play another football season, I'm like 'whew, that just seems like a lot.' I know that I'm ready to play this year. And hopefully I feel great at the end of next year and I'm ready to play another one after that, and maybe we just keep going like that. But committing to more than that feels a little bit daunting and I think a little bit unfair to the team and myself. The last thing I want to do is sign some five-year extension and after one year, be like 'Oh man, I'm ready to retire, I want to spend time with my family,' and they're sitting there with four years on the books and had a bunch of planning done that I was going to be around. I don't want to play football and not be all the way in it, too.
"It's been great. (Rams general manager) Les (Snead) and his group and (Rams coach) Sean (McVay) and all them have been awesome to me and (Rams owner) Mr. (Stan) Kroenke about letting me kind of go year to year while building in things for the years to come so we don't have to sit there and negotiate after every offseason. I don't know how far I want to play. I know I'm excited about playing this year and then we'll see after that."
Following the agreement, Los Angeles made sure to protect against a sudden Stafford retirement by spending its first-round pick on Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, who they hope will develop into Stafford's long-term replacement.
It's not often a team can seriously contend for a Super Bowl while also crafting a succession plan, but the Rams have positioned themselves to do so. It just might not happen as soon as you'd think.
"I remember when I was getting traded to L.A., just having those initial conversations with Sean, and it was like 'you know, I don't know, I think maybe three or four (years) max(imum) left feels right, get in that 15-16 (year) range,'" Stafford said. "Now, it's like I don't know, maybe I'll just keep rolling. My girls love watching me play. Might as well."
