Rams, QB Matthew Stafford agree on 4-year contract extension

If the Rams and Matthew Stafford got nothing more out of their alliance than one Super Bowl trophy, last winter’s bold trade would be a grand success.

But they don’t plan to stop here.

The Rams and Stafford reached agreement Saturday on a contract extension that would keep the Super Bowl-winning quarterback in Los Angeles through 2026.

The Rams confirmed the contract is for four years, and national reports said it has a total value of $160 million, including $129 million over the first three years, with $135 million of the deal guaranteed.

The new contract will begin after the 2022 season, the last under a five-year, $135 million contract Stafford signed with the Lions before last winter’s trade that brought him to the Rams and sent quarterback Jared Goff to Detroit.

It lifts Stafford, 34, from ninth to fourth among quarterbacks in contract value, behind Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Deshaun Watson and tied with Dak Prescott, and from 13th to fifth in yearly average, a list topped by Aaron Rodgers.

Not that bigger Rams paychecks is all Stafford earned by coming to L.A. and winning a Super Bowl.

This week, AT&T debuted a national commercial, targeted at NCAA basketball tournament viewers, featuring Stafford talking with trading in a phone in terms that sound a lot like a certain trade of quarterbacks.

“It’s a great trade,” the AT&T saleswoman says.

“Life-changing,” Stafford says before winking at the camera.

You could say that.

A new contract for Stafford became one of the Rams’ top priorities this offseason after he helped them to the Super Bowl championship, leading game-winning drives late in their playoff win over the Buccaneers, their NFC title-game victory over the 49ers and their 23-20 Super Bowl triumph over the Bengals at SoFi Stadium on Feb. 13.

General manager Les Snead and coach Sean McVay said earlier this month that extensions for both Stafford and defensive tackle Aaron Donald were high on their to-do list.

No new deal has been announced yet for Donald, the three-time NFL defensive player of the year.

For now, at least, Stafford becomes the highest-paid player in Rams history.

It’s appropriate considering the change he brought to the team and the team brought to him.

Leaving behind 12 seasons with the often out-manned Lions, Stafford thrived by passing to receivers like Cooper Kupp, who became the NFL’s offensive player of the year, Robert Woods and Odell Beckham Jr.

Stafford’s 4,886 yards passing in the 17-game regular season set a Rams record, and his 41 touchdown passes tied Kurt Warner’s franchise record.

Not coincidentally, the Rams won their first Super Bowl since the Warner-led St. Louis Rams in the 1999 season and their first as the Los Angeles Rams.

Predictably, several members of the new champions decided to move on and cash in during the first week of NFL free agency, including outside linebacker Von Miller (signed by the Bills), cornerback Darious Williams (Jaguars) and right guard Austin Corbett (Panthers).

In additional subtractions, left tackle Andrew Whitworth, 40, announced his retirement Tuesday, and the Rams announced Wednesday they released veteran punter Johnny Hekker.

Meanwhile, the Rams made their first – and so far only – acquisition by signing ex-Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson to a three-year contract, adding to Stafford’s array of receiving targets.

And they re-signed starting center Brian Allen, new left tackle Joe Noteboom and right-guard candidate Coleman Shelton early in the week, and said Saturday they re-signed punt and kick returner Brandon Powell to a one-year contract.

There’s more to do, like Donald’s extension and trying to re-sign Beckham.

But the Rams checked a big item off their offseason to-do list by keeping Stafford in charge of the offense for years to come.