HOW KELLY STAFFORD RETURNED MATTHEW TO THE RAMS AFTER PODCAST CRITICISM
Don’t mock family members who broadcast insights, including Stafford’s wife, who suggested she would “love an adventure” in another city if her husband didn’t reach a contract agreement in Los Angeles
Stan Kroenke was driving around Los Angeles and noticed a plot of land. Six billion bucks later, he owned SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. His NFL team moved in — but not until the Rams dealt Jared Goff and two first-round draft picks to Detroit for Matthew Stafford. Of course, Stafford led them to a Super Bowl title at the same stadium because Kroenke gets what he wants, part of his marriage to a Walmart heiress.
So does anyone living in the tangible world, even a surveyor of podcasts from wives of famous athletes, actually think Stafford would leave the Rams after his wife’s comments on “The Morning After” production? He is staying, FYI, with a restructured contract that will be finalized after free agency. The deal also might lead Aaron Rodgers to the New York Giants — retirement hasn’t entered his ayahuasca haze — after Stafford rejected a contract with that team near $100 million.
Whether it wins her podcasting awards over Alex Cooper, Kelly Stafford also got her way back on Feb. 6. She was unhappy that her husband’s close friend, receiver Cooper Kupp, is finished with the Rams. Stafford was set to make only $27 million this season in salary, with $4 million guaranteed, chump change for the quarterback position. Kelly began to wonder as her microphone warmed up.
Dak Prescott will make $60 million. Joe Burrow, Jordan Love and Trevor Lawrence will make $55 million. Goff and Tua Tagovailoa will make $53 million. Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert will make $52 million. How many league championships have they won?
Zero.
“I honestly wasn’t planning on discussing this, but hell, why not?” Kelly said. “My husband, like, wants to win. He’s not trying to put a team in a bad situation. If you’re catching my drift, you’re catching my drift. … Trading away a Cooper Kupp? I’m confused because we were one play away from going to the NFC championship. I have to be the dog in this situation — I want the respect for him that he deserves. I love the city of L.A.
“With that being said, I love an adventure.”
She loves an adventure? Kelly was seeking a trade for her husband, usually the work of an agent. The Rams didn’t like her approach. In theory, she was correct: Stafford, even at 37, should be paid at least $50 million per season as he leads a contending team that nearly won a postseason game in Philadelphia. He is a Hall of Famer as an athlete and a person. He’s a badass with a mean arm, bringing the culture of a rough Detroit career to the sunshine. He soon will pass 60,000 career passing yards, joining nine others. But his coach, Sean McVay, likes to play games with salaries because a quarterback who takes less allows more money for others. McVay and general manager Les Snead should not toy with Stafford.
Pay him. That’s what happened Friday, when Stafford and McVay met at 6:30 a.m. and agreed to a wage closer to $50 million annually. It’s absurd the Rams allowed him to seek his own competitive rate with other franchises, which led the Giants to offer a big amount and Las Vegas to make a similar offer via Tom Brady. What, McVay would have signed an inconsistent Rodgers, at 41, when he’d raise more hell in L.A. media circles? He’d give the job to backup Jimmy Garoppolo? He’d offer money to Sam Darnold? When the Rams are this close to their third Super Bowl in eight years, why mock the man who could bring another title?
Instead, Stafford remains. And Kelly keeps doing her podcast.
“There’s no doubt in my mind who I want to be our quarterback,” McVay said this week on the Fitz & Whit podcast. “There is no dispute — and let's not get it twisted. Now, there are layers to it. You have to be able to say, ‘Hey, how do we continuously build? How do we support him? How do we make sure that he's getting what is his worth relative to those things?’ ’’
They found a way. “I'm sure proud of the body of work and really proud of the way that he's played,” McVay said. “The coolest thing you can say about Matthew is he shines the brightest on the biggest stages. When you look at the seven playoff games that he's played in since he's been a Ram, he certainly gives you a chance every time you step out on the field, and for that, I'm sure appreciative.”
Rodgers won’t have to leave New Jersey if he signs with the Giants. Imagine if they are his only option — with Travis Hunter as a possible draft choice at No. 3. Forget Minnesota and Pittsburgh — the cultural infrastructure of Kevin O’Connell and Mike Tomlin won’t make any squeezes for his psychedelics and RFK Jr. vibes. Forget the Raiders, who let Brady use his limited ownership frills to meet Stafford on a ski trip and could sign Darnold and/or draft Shedeur Sanders. Forget the Browns, who could draft Cam Ward at No. 2 or higher.
“We will look under every rock,” Giants GM Joe Schoen said.
At least McVay can return to the offseason and figure out how to beat the Eagles. Too bad Jordan Schultz didn’t take my career advice — I lunched with him at a New York City deli — and chose not to stay in the coffee end of life. His father, Howard, was the CEO of Starbucks. For some reason, Jordan hoped to do what I do for a living. He eventually rose to an insider position at Fox Sports and reported that Stafford and Brady met recently in Montana, which could have been a tampering situation with Stafford under contract. The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said it was a chance meeting, and the league said the Rams allowed the Raiders and other teams to speak with Stafford.
Next thing you knew, Schultz was threatening Rapoport at the NFL Scouting Combine, right there in the lobby of the JW Marriott in Indianapolis.
At a Starbucks.
“We need to talk,” Schultz said.
“We don’t need to talk,” Rapoport said.
“If this happens again, we’re gonna have a f—ing problem,” Schultz said.
One or the other should appear as a guest on Kelly’s show. She is batting 1 for 1.
###
Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.