Matthew Stafford may be firmly on the back nine, but he is also grossly underpaid. The 37-year-old NFL veteran is only making $27 million for next season. While he has already made a boatload in his decade-plus pro career out of Georgia, he is worth double what the Los Angeles Rams are paying him. It is why Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk outlined nine quarterbacks who are making $50 million.
Of the nine quarterbacks listed out by Florio, only Jalen Hurts has won a Super Bowl, and he just did that. Patrick Mahomes does not make $50 million annually, but the length of his contract with the Kansas City Chiefs gives him a great deal of security, in addition to netting $45 million a season. Stafford may command what other older quarterbacks like Kirk Cousins got, but he may net more.
What this signifies is that even a team who would be a great fit for him like the Pittsburgh Steelers would have to nearly double his 2025 salary to get him. Stafford has the powerful right arm and the winning ways of late to help guide the Steelers back to the Super Bowl. There is risk with his age and injury history, but he may be the best option for the Steelers if they do not draft a rookie quarterback.
The market dictates the Steelers are not going to get him if they plan on giving him chump change.
Pittsburgh Steelers could get outbid for Matthew Stafford's services
Let's be real. I would much rather give Stafford $50 million annually on a three-year deal than I would a handful of guys mentioned by Florio. For every Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson on his list, there is a Trevor Lawrence and a Tua Tagovailoa. Even the guy the Rams traded away to get Stafford in Jared Goff makes over $50 million annually. I have very few problems with Goff making that much scratch.
While I think it serves Stafford to spend the rest of his career with the Rams, money talks. Yes, there might be teams like the New York Jets who could be willing to spend more, but they have made the playoffs just twice since Stafford left Georgia. I may like what Aaron Glenn is about, but I trust the Steelers' operation a great deal more than the Jets. There could be other suitors in the mix for him.
A popular name that has been tied to Stafford are the New York Giants. They have the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, but could get squeezed out of the Cam Ward/Shedeur Sanders sweepstakes if the Tennessee Titans draft one and another team trades up with the Cleveland Browns to get the other. I see Stafford having far more leverage than most quarterbacks right now.
He should go back to the Rams, but a team like the Steelers must be comfortable with a pay bump.