In his end-of-season press conference, Rams GM Les Snead addressed the status of both QB Matthew Stafford and WR Cooper Kupp, two of the bigger questions facing the team this offseason.
Both have uncertain futures in Los Angeles. Stafford wanted a new deal from the Rams last offseason and talks dragged into training camp before a compromise that moved money up into 2024 but did not give Stafford the long-term guarantees he was seeking.
The understanding was that the two sides would go year-to-year and re-evaluate things after the season. Ian Rapoport notes Stafford is currently due $27.5 million for 2025 and is “obviously” not going to play for that number, so the two sides need to sit down and work out a new deal.
Snead was asked if the Rams would consider trading Stafford and he didn’t say no.
“[I]t’ll take someone calling or us reaching out if we want to do that,” Snead said via Pro Football Talk. “Those are the things that’ll be determined down the road here.”
Rams HC Sean McVay said last week he hoped to have clarity on where things stood with Stafford sooner than last year. Stafford has also said he feels like he’s got a lot left in the tank.
As for Kupp, Snead was also less definitive than a year ago when asked about potentially trading the veteran or reworking his deal. Los Angeles looked into trading Kupp before the deadline this year when the Rams were 1-4.
“[W]e hadn’t talked to him first so I wouldn’t do it here,” Snead said. “Cooper and all these players that are at the end — macro level, we’re talking about a subset of players, not just Matthew and Cooper, that are coming to the end of their career and their contracts, they still have contracts with Rams. Do you keep going forward with that same contract? Do you restructure it in some way? For many reasons, those are all issues we really have to sit down and talk through. We haven’t done it yet.”
Kupp has admitted he’s unsure about whether he’ll be with the Rams in 2025 but added that he doesn’t plan to retire.
Stafford, 36, is a former first-round pick of the Lions, who took him with the No. 1 overall pick out of Georgia in 2009. He was in the final year of a five-year, $76.5 million contract when he and the Lions agreed to a five-year, $135 million extension back in 2017.
Stafford was involved in a blockbuster trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for QB Jared Goff and draft picks in 2021. He signed a four-year extension worth $160 million that included $135 million guaranteed a year later.
He’s due a base salary of $31 million in 2024, all of which is guaranteed. Stafford is due $32 and $31 million in the final two years of his deal.
In 2024, Stafford appeared in 16 games for the Rams and threw for 3,762 yards while completing 65.8 percent of his passes for 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Kupp, 31, is a former third-round pick of the Rams back in 2017. He signed a three-year, $47.25 million extension with the Rams and was set to make a base salary of $14.875 million for the 2022 season.
The Rams then signed Kupp to a new three-year, $80 million extension heading into the season.
In 2024, Kupp appeared in 12 games for the Rams and caught 67 passes for 710 yards receiving and six touchdowns.
We’ll have more on Stafford and Kupp as the news is available.
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