Because the commerce rumors swirled, Matthew Stafford’s daughters got here residence from faculty to ask him concerning the questions their buddies had peppered them with concerning his future.
The Rams needed him again, however at their worth. The Giants and Raiders needed him badly, however that will require uprooting the household of six.
It made for a nerve-racking few weeks for the 37-year-old quarterback.
“Three weeks of that uncertainty is never fun, whether that’s in a job or life or whatever it is,” Stafford mentioned on the latest episode of spouse Kelly’s “The Morning After” podcast. “You gotta find things to occupy your time. I played a lot of golf, tried to work out, just things to kind of keep your mind off it cause you sit there and think about all those uncertainties all day you go crazy.”
Finally, the Staffords obtained what they needed with the Rams transforming the Tremendous Bowl-winning quarterback’s contract to maintain him in Los Angeles.
The Giants provided Stafford a contract price $90-$100 million, however he took much less cash to stick with the NFC West champions and potential Tremendous Bowl contenders.
He mentioned he’s “fired up to be back.”
“I was talking to Kelly the other day just about this process and how it can sometimes feel like such a negative, it’s a tough thing, you’re going through all these things, but at the same time was talking to somebody and they kind of gave me the perspective of like, ‘Man, this is such a positive time in your life. You’re 37 years old going into your 17th season and somebody still wants you to be on their team,’” Stafford mentioned in his first public feedback since opting to stay with the Rams. “That’s a uncommon prevalence and one thing I don’t take as a right and take evenly.
“It’s still a humbling thing to have teams and, most importantly, the team I’m playing for in the Rams excited about me being a part of their team and leading the way. It’s a cool thing and hopefully we have a great season and get to figure it out again next year and continue to keep playing, we’ll see.”
The opportunity of Stafford leaving the Rams centered round his future, with the Rams having their limits for the place they might go in a contract and Stafford trying to be paid like different high quarterbacks.
His unique contract had him slated to earn $27 million this season, a good quantity lower than most top-level quarterbacks. Even along with his new deal, he’ll earn roughly $15 million lower than he would have had the Rams despatched him to steer the Giants, based on NFL insider Peter Schrager.
Stafford referred to as it a “unique situation” however famous how he and head coach Sean McVay stayed in communication all through the method.
He knew his coach needed him to remain and McVay knew Stafford didn’t wish to go away.
Whereas Stafford didn’t identify any groups that pursued him, Kelly mentioned she’s positive Giants and Raiders followers are bummed out to haven’t landed him.
The previous Georgia star referred to as the curiosity “humbling.”
“There wasn’t a whole lot going on other than some of the combine stuff, but it’s kind of a dead period in the NFL and so, anytime those things happen, people are going to pick it up and run with it and I understand it,” Stafford mentioned. “However I had nice communication with Sean the entire time, not all of it was issues I needed to listen to and I believe not all of it had been issues he needed to listen to.
“We had grownup conversations because he and I have known each other and gone through a lot together, so, all of that was positive and good, in the end, especially, getting to the point where I know that I’m extremely excited to be back, I know (Kelly is) extremely excited to be back, we’re just in a really good place and happy to be playing for the Rams for another season.”
Stafford mentioned he was extra involved about his household throughout the entire course of and appreciates that the ordeal is over sooner than his final contract negotiation with the workforce final 12 months, when the perimeters agreed to a reworked deal proper earlier than coaching camp opened in the summertime.
He and his spouse each agreed that ought to the same state of affairs come up subsequent offseason, the plan is for it to be even shorter.
“I don’t want to sell myself short, I don’t want to promise anything,” Stafford mentioned. “Obviously, I can’t do that. But I do feel good and feel I’m playing decent.”
