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With an average annual salary of $42 million per year on his revised contract, Matthew Stafford isn’t one of the NFL’s highest-paid quarterbacks. That doesn’t mean he isn’t one of the best in the league, though.
He far outperforms his 15th-ranked salary among quarterbacks, consistently proving during his first four years with the Rams that he’s a top-tier passer. He almost seems to be getting better with age and heading into the 2025 season where he’ll be 37 years old, Stafford is seen as a premier signal caller.
Pro Football Focus ranked every projected starting quarterback for the upcoming season and Stafford was slotted just outside the top five. He was ranked No. 7 on the list, one spot behind Jayden Daniels and two behind Jalen Hurts.
Hurts, Daniels, Stafford and Justin Herbert were all in Tier 2, which PFF called “High-end starters.”
Stafford isn’t coming off his best season — his 74.7 overall grade in 2024 reflects that — but what keeps him in this upper tier is his complete command of the Rams offense. Despite playing behind a shaky offensive line and losing multiple top weapons to injury, he was still a drive away from knocking off the eventual Super Bowl champions in the divisional round. When Stafford is locked in, he is as good as anyone in football.
The other four quarterbacks ahead of Stafford in PFF’s rankings are as follows.
- Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
- Joe Burrow, Bengals
- Lamar Jackson, Ravens
- Josh Allen, Bills
It’s fair to say no one would put Stafford ahead of any of those quarterbacks at this point in their careers, three of them being MVP winners. Stafford isn’t far behind them when it comes to Super Bowl-caliber quarterbacks, though.
He has a ring of his own and showed last postseason that he’s capable of still leading the Rams deep into the playoffs. There’s a reason the Rams were committed to keeping him for at least another year and it’s because he gives them the best chance to win.
Elsewhere in the NFC West, Brock Purdy was ranked 11th by PFF, Kyler Murray was 15th and Sam Darnold was 26th – only one spot ahead of Russell Wilson.
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