By the time Matthew Stafford’s current deal with the Los Angeles Rams expires, the veteran quarterback will enter his 40s. And there are just a handful of quarterbacks to play well beyond their 40s in the NFL. Stafford, on the other hand, isn’t sure whether he wants to enter that iconic list. And when the former Rams’ defender Chris Long asked whether he’s taking it year-by-year, Stafford clarified his stance on his long-term future with the Rams.

“I don’t know. It is year-to-year because I think it’s fair to the team,” Stafford told Long. “I think it’s fair to me, my family, like I don’t want to sit there and say, ‘Okay, 24 months from now, I’ve got to be ready to play another football season.’ I’m like, that just seems like a lot. I know that I’m ready to play this year, and hopefully, I feel great at the end of the next year, and I’m ready to play another one after that, and then maybe we just kind of keep going like that. But committing to more than that feels a little bit daunting, and I think a little bit unfair to the team and myself.”

Stafford is 38 and is heading toward the 18th season of his NFL career and 6th with the Rams. However, Los Angeles doesn’t have any interest in moving on from Stafford, and it’s not hard to understand why. Stafford is coming after one of the best seasons of his career, winning his first MVP honors last season. The quarterback threw for 4707 yards and 46 touchdowns, while leading the Rams to the NFC title game.

Fast forward to earlier this offseason, and the Rams signed Stafford on a one-year, $55 million extension. With that contract in hand, Stafford became one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league and is signed through the 2027 season with $105 million remaining on his contract. But the quarterback has made it clear that he has no intention to sign a long-term deal.

“The last thing I want to do is sign some five-year extension, and after one year be like, ‘Oh man, I’m ready to retire. I want to spend time with my family.’ And they’re sitting there with four years on the books and had a bunch of planning done to that I was going to be around,” Stafford added.

Stafford admitted that the Rams have allowed him to play on a year-to-year deal until he eventually hangs up his cleats. The 38-year-old acknowledged head coach Sean McVay, general manager Les Snead, and owner Stan Kroenke. And with Stafford’s comments about year-to-year, it’s safe to say that the Rams now have an urgency to find his successor.

Because Stafford clearing the stance on his future allows the Rams to prepare for life after their quarterback’s retirement. For that, Los Angeles picked Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft.

However, considering Stafford’s MVP-caliber season when the Rams drafted Simpson, the move sparked debate over whether Los Angeles had used its first-round pick on a long-term project instead of selecting one of college football’s brightest stars who could make an immediate impact as a rookie. But according to draft analyst Rob Rang, the decision was made with the future in mind.

“There is no denying that he is a good fit in Sean McVay’s offense — he was listed as such in my best NFL team fits for each of this year’s QBs — but this is easily the gutsiest pick of the first round thus far,” Rang wrote. “This is obviously a move made for the long term.”

That said, Matthew Stafford is excited to kick off the 2026 season, as the Rams are clear favorites to make the Super Bowl, especially after the Myles Garrett trade. But at the same time, the quarterback is not thinking about his long-term future in Los Angeles.