At the 2026 NFL Honors in February, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford used his NFL MVP acceptance speech to confirm that he plans to play in 2026.
Stafford spoke directly to his four daughters on the stage with him when he said, “You’re unbelievable cheerleaders for me. I appreciate it. I am so happy to have you at the games on the sideline with me, and I can’t wait for you to cheer me on next year when we’re out there kicking ass. I’ll see you guys next year.”
The camera panned to the audience, where Rams head coach Sean McVay beamed and clapped because he knew he’d just avoided the quarterback wilderness for at least one more year.
McVay sat down with Kay Adams at the NFL annual league meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, on Monday. Adams asked how excited McVay is not to have to field questions about Stafford’s contract or plans with the Rams, like he did last offseason.
“I’ll tell you what else is really cool, Kay,” McVay said. “Our relationship went to different levels as a result of some of the hard conversations we had to have last year. When you get into a leadership role for a handful of years, and you learn from a lot of mistakes you’ve made, there’s nothing wrong with loving people enough to tell them the truth. Being courageous enough to have some of those hard conversations.”
McVay added that Stafford played “light” and “free” last season as a result because the 38-year-old All-Pro “was so in the moment.”
“He’s like a fine wine, getting better with age,” McVay said. “I don’t see any reasons why - you don’t want to put any pressure or expectations because he did an amazing job, but hey, let’s just continue on this trajectory. Let’s keep enjoying it.”
Adams then specifically asked if McVay had talked with Stafford about how much longer he might play and how the Rams should build their roster as a result.
McVay responded as follows:
“Oh, yeah, Matthew and I talk all the time. The thing is, he’s able to make decisions. He’s gonna play this year. If he said he wanted to play a couple more years, I would believe him. But that’s his decision. He’s earned the right to be in those spots. And so, we want to think short- and long-term.
We’ve got this fun narrative about, you know, ‘all in,’ whatever. We’re all in on trying to good in the short- and the long-term. I think everybody takes that approach. But what we haven’t been afraid to do is take swings on what a lot of people would say, ‘Hey, that’s ‘F them picks.’ No, no, no.”
McVay defended the Rams’ trading four draft picks, including this year’s No. 29 overall pick, for Kansas Chiefs All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie as “not ‘F them picks,'” which Adams playfully pushed back against.
The Rams hired McVay in January 2017, and McVay played a significant role in the Rams acquiring Stafford from the Detroit Lions in January 2021. The Rams won the Super Bowl in Stafford’s first season with the team.
Los Angeles came up just short of Super Bowl LX last season, losing to the eventual champion Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game, but the Rams are the odds-on favorites to win Super Bowl LXI next year.
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