Stafford agrees to 1-year contract extension with Rams

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Matthew Stafford has agreed to a one-year contract extension through the 2027 season with the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams announced the deal Thursday without immediately revealing its value. ESPN reported the 2027 deal is worth $55 million with a potential to increase to $60 million, a raise from his salary for the upcoming season. The deal indicates that the 38-year-old Stafford is at least strongly thinking about staying with the Rams past 2026. That's notable because Stafford has professed a year-to-year mentality about his future ever since he led the Rams to a Super Bowl championship in February 2022, and he only confirmed he would return for the upcoming season while accepting his MVP trophy in February. The Rams then surprised the league by drafting Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick last month, throwing Stafford's long-term future into momentary doubt — until head coach Sean McVay made it quite clear that Stafford is the Rams' starting quarterback for as long as he decides to play. "Whenever that time comes for (Simpson) to get an opportunity to be Matthew's successor will be on Matthew's terms," McVay said at the time. "I didn't want that to ever be misunderstood. ... It is Matthew's football team." Stafford is coming off one of the best seasons of his career in which he won his first MVP award, edging New England's Drake Maye in the voting. Stafford passed for an NFL-best 4,707 yards and a career-high 46 touchdowns against just eight interceptions before he led the Rams to two road playoff victories and a spot in the NFC championship game. The upcoming season will be Stafford's 18th in the NFL and his sixth with the Rams, who acquired him in a trade with Detroit in 2021. Stafford is the sixth-leading passer in NFL history with 64,516 yards, and he is seventh with 423 touchdown passes, two behind Philip Rivers. Los Angeles is among the preseason Super Bowl favorites again this year despite using its first-round pick on a quarterback who now seems unlikely to play for at least two years. Simpson has said he is eager to learn behind Stafford, calling it "a perfect situation" for a quarterback who was a starter for only one season with the Crimson Tide. The Rams' organized team activities begin next week. The upcoming Super Bowl is at the Rams' home SoFi Stadium, one week after Stafford's 39th birthday. He also led the Rams to their championship in a Super Bowl played at SoFi. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL