Matthew Stafford was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 2021 and led the team to its first Super Bowl victory that same season. Now, he’s trying to lead the Rams on another deep postseason run, and it begins with a Wild Card matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.
Stafford has had an impressive NFL career since being selected No. 1 overall in the 2009 NFL Draft, and he has made a ton of money over the years. Let’s examine Stafford’s contract, salary, net worth, and career earnings.
Matthew Stafford’s Contract and Salary
After Stafford was traded to the Rams, the veteran quarterback signed a four-year, $160 million contract that included a $60 million signing bonus and $130 million guaranteed.
His average annual salary is $40 million, which ranks 15th among quarterbacks this season.
Stafford’s base salary is $23.5 million this year, and additional bonuses bring his cap hit to $46.1 million.
MORE: Who Are the NFL’s Highest-Paid Quarterbacks?
In 2017, Stafford was the highest-paid player in the NFL after signing a record-breaking five-year, $135 million extension with the Detroit Lions. However, now, his $40 million salary is a bargain considering his production and what other quarterbacks around the NFL are getting paid.
Stafford entered the season earning the same amount as former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones and less than Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson ($46 million) and Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence ($55 million).
Stafford’s Net Worth and Career Earnings
Stafford’s net worth is estimated to be approximately $150 million.
Stafford has earned $364.3 million from his NFL contracts alone, so this net-worth estimate might be a bit low.
Stafford has the second-highest career earnings in NFL history, trailing only New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers ($380.6 million). For reference, legendary quarterback Tom Brady ranks third in all-time career earnings with $332.9 million.
That figure doesn’t even include Stafford’s lucrative endorsement deals with major brands such as Nike, PepsiCo, Ford Motors, Fanatics, and Panini.
His endorsements reportedly bring in roughly $2 million a year.
Also, Stafford and his wife, Kelly, are part owners of the NWSL soccer club Angel City FC. They invested in the team alongside actor Gabrielle Union, former NFL center Ryan Kalil, WNBA legend Candace Parker, and tennis star Serena Williams.
“We fell in love with attending an Angel City game last season and wanted our daughters to experience something so important and powerful first-hand,” the Staffords said in a statement.
Stafford has had a terrific NFL career, and he has done incredibly well for himself off the field as well.
Rams vs. Vikings Game Preview
- Location: Glendale, Arizona; State Farm Field
- Time: 8 p.m. ET
- Channel: ABC, ESPN, ESPN+
The winner of this game will travel to face the No. 2 seeded Philadelphia Eagles, who easily defeated the Green Bay Packers 22-10 in their Wild Card game.
With this being a neutral site game due to the Los Angeles wildfires, the Rams cannot rely on home-field advantage. Away from SoFi Stadium this year, the Rams are 5-3, and they did play once at State Farm Stadium back in Week 2 when they lost to the Arizona Cardinals, 41-10.
The Rams have been playing really great football lately, winning five straight before falling in a meaningless game against the Seattle Seahawks in the season finale, where key players earned much-needed rest.
The Vikings fell from potentially being the No. 1 overall seed to the No. 5 seed when they lost the season finale to the Lions. That game saw Minnesota’s offense stall in the red zone, settling for multiple field goals, as QB Sam Darnold had one of his worst outings of the year.
Pro Football Network’s OFF+ metric sees this as a top-15 matchup, and there could be potential for many points on Monday night. The Rams are ranked No. 11, and the Vikings are No. 13.
The Rams have a pair of elite receivers — Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua — so counting this team out is irresponsible.
This season, Kyren Williams helped Los Angeles’ offense rank seventh in rushing success rate. The respect Williams demands from opposing defenses has allowed the Rams to rank seventh in third-down avoidance. They constantly operate from ahead of the chains, a common trait of successful offenses.
The passing game hasn’t been the most consistent weekly, leading to a reasonably wide fluctuation in grades. The Rams have four top-five weekly finishes but also four weeks ranking 20th or worse. Still, with Nacua and Kupp healthy, Los Angeles’ upside gives it a fighting chance to win a playoff game for the first time since their Super Bowl 56 victory.
The Vikings have sometimes looked like an elite offensive unit, but several down weeks kept their final ranking outside the top 10. Darnold has affirmatively answered any questions about his ability to lead this team to Super Bowl contention, but Week 18 was a reminder that his floor remains very low.
One of Minnesota’s worst traits this season was the red-zone offense, where they finished 19th in touchdown rate. That reared its ugly head in the division-deciding loss to the Lions, where the Vikings had one success on 14 red-zone plays.
That was the worst red-zone success rate in a game over the last five seasons (min. 10 plays). The passing game finished 10th in success rate, which helped this unit overcome a fairly average rushing game (17th in success rate).
Head coach Kevin O’Connell’s willingness to seek out explosive plays on early downs has helped Darnold avoid difficult situations, as Minnesota avoided third downs at the fifth-highest rate of any offense.
Per Pro Football Network’s Playoff Predictor, with 10,000 simulations, the Rams are an underdog and given just a 43.8% chance of winning against the Vikings.