Matthew Stafford will “need some time to think” about his future

Sunday’s loss to the Rams could be quarterback Matthew Stafford’s last game with the team.

Asked about his future after losing to the Eagles in the final round of the playoffs, Stafford looked at his watch, said the game had just ended and added that he will “take some time to think about it,” via Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com.

If his time with the Rams is over, his time in the NFL is not.

“I feel like I played pretty good ball,” Stafford said. Asked if he still had some game left in him, he said: “He certainly feels that way.”

The 36-year-old Stafford, who was the first overall pick in the 2009 draft, has two years left on his contract. He has a $4 million fully guaranteed bonus due in March, and a non-guaranteed salary of $23 million.

That’s less than half of the current market for the position, and Stafford clearly continues to perform at a level higher than that.

The Rams adjusted Stafford’s contract as training camp opened. It was the product of quiet tensions between player and team that lasted from the draft (when the Rams didn’t use a first-round pick on his successor) to the application deadline.

After the Rams limped to a 1-4 start, there were rumors that Stafford would welcome a trade.

But then things took a dramatic turn for the Rams. They recovered to win the NFC West and the Wild Card playoff game, before falling short in Philadelphia.

Although the Rams won the Super Bowl in the first year after the trade that sent Stafford to LA for quarterback Jared Goff, two first-round picks and a third-round pick, the Rams quietly hoped after the 2022 season that the Jets would call if their attempted trade it fails for Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Aries are in an awkward position, to say the least. They’re going through a youth movement, with up-and-coming defensive and offensive stars like running back Kyren Williams and receiver Puk Natsu. And coach Sean McVay may be thinking about finding a younger player at that position.

When McVay was asked about Stafford’s future, McVay said, “I’m not really interested in talking about anything related to next year.”

McVay was similarly tight-lipped last year about defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who surprisingly retired after 10 NFL seasons in March.

And so, after the annual coaching carousel stops spinning and the annual quarterback carousel kicks in, Stafford will potentially be an option for teams looking for new quarterbacks — and the Rams will potentially be one of the teams looking for him.