The Los Angeles Rams made one of the biggest moves of the offseason last week when they brought Aaron Donald out of retirement. Donald joining the defensive line alongside Myles Garrett gave the Rams a pass-rush combination nobody in the league is ready for. ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky reacted to that news on Get Up, sparking a sharp response from FOX Sports host Nick Wright, who believes the ESPN analyst went far beyond a reasonable debate

“Matthew Stafford gets another one. He has an MVP in his back pocket. He becomes top-five, top-seven of all-time conversation,” Orlovsky said on Get Up.

“Saying that we could end this season with Matt Stafford a top-five quarterback is a perfect example of an unacceptable opinion,” Wright said in reaction to Orlovsky. “I personally, even if they win the Super Bowl this year, would not have Matt Stafford in the top five of quarterbacks of the last 25 years. Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees. There’s five just this quarter century.”

Stafford has the support to be one of the best this season. If wide receiver Puka Nacua is able to play for most of the season, the veteran quarterback should contend for the MVP this year. He’s also got Kyren Williams in the backfield, which means the ground game also looks good. And with Donald and Garrett joining an already talented Rams defense, Stafford only has to ball out. But will that be enough for him to join the best in the history of the sport?

The jury will be out on that one for a while.

“You want to start having a discussion about him vs [Troy] Aikman? No problem. Him versus Kurt Warner? We can have that discussion. You just can’t have the opinion if Matt Stafford wins the Super Bowl, he might be one of the five greatest quarterbacks of all time.”

Brady, Manning, Mahomes, Brees, and Rodgers all come with resumes that outshine Stafford’s. Unfortunately, the Rams quarterback rarely saw this kind of success during his stint with the Detroit Lions. Having gone under the radar for so long, not many are convinced he deserves to be featured along with these figures.

The others have also spent a long, long time with their teams, enough to become synonymous with them. Stafford couldn’t bring much success to the Lions in his 12-year tenure, and has only been with the Rams for the past five years.

However, it all depends on how Stafford plays this year. He is less than 2,000 yards away from surpassing Rodgers’ current all-time passing yards record, the only active player in the top five. From then on, however, it gets difficult for the Rams quarterback, who would have to make up nearly 5,000 yards to compete with Brett Favre’s record.

Stafford also needs just three more touchdown passes to pass Philip Rivers for sixth on the all-time touchdowns leaderboard.

He’s firmly established himself within the Top 10 in league history; Orlovsky might not have drawn criticism if he’d have made this claim. But Top-7 may be a bit too much. Especially when names like Joe Montana are also on that list.

Matthew Stafford was still not given his due recognition last year, before the season began. He was ranked No. 59 in the NFL Top 100 then. But now, he has jumped to No. 4, the highest he’s ever been on the list in his career.

“Nobody is playing at a better level right now,” Nacua said. “And man, am I lucky to have that guy on our team.”

Former Rams defensive end Jared Verse, however, believes Stafford is the “GOAT.”

The 2026 Rams give Matthew Stafford another strong chance to add to his résumé. If he wins another title, the top-five debate will return. Whether it changes his standing will depend on how much weight is placed on championships, awards and career longevity.