Sean McVay gets brutally honest on "challenging" Matthew Stafford contract drama amid trade rumors around Rams QB

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay has a very complicated situation to handle in the 2025 offseason. Cooper Kupp was put on the trading block earlier this month; now he has to deal with potentially losing Matthew Stafford via trade after the quarterback and the Rams' management could not agree on the value of his contract.

Speaking to former NFL players Ryan Fitzpatrick and Andrew Whitworth on Tuesday's episode of the Fitz & Whit podcast, the head coach said about Stafford:

"There’s no discrepancy on us wanting him to continue to... be our quarterback. The interesting and challenging dilemma and dynamics within this are, ‘Hey, how do you continuously as a head coach look at the short term and the long term and be able to figure out what does that really look like?’"

He continued:

"There’s layers to it. You have to be able to say, ‘Hey, how do we continuously build? How do we support him? How do we make sure that he’s getting what is his worth relative to those things?’"

In a report by NFL Network's Peter Schrager on Sunday, Stafford, who is heading into the penultimate year of his four-year, $160 million deal, is asking for more than $50 million per season. His base salary for 2025 is $23 million, per Over The Cap.

As a Ram, Stafford has been sensational. He completed 1,276 of 1,942 pass attempts for 14,700 yards and 95 touchdowns against 44 interceptions with a passer rating of 95.2. Stafford has also rushed 441 times for 1,356 yards and 15 touchdowns.

While the two sides are working on a deal, Matthew Stafford's agent Jimmy Sexton has been allowed to speak to other teams about his market value.

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Sean McVay reacts to Cooper Kupp's impending departure from Rams

Speaking of Cooper Kupp, Sean McVay also shared his thoughts on the Super Bowl LVI MVP, who is actively being shopped by the Rams. He began by praising the wideout's everlasting influence on him and his legacy, both professional and personal:

“I think you have a responsibility to the collective and it doesn’t mean you’re right. I’ve been wrong before, I’ll be wrong again. Doesn’t change my love, my appreciation, my gratitude for everything that he’s meant.”

Moving on to the point of why the team was moving on, he equated it to solving a puzzle:

“No matter what he does, he’s an all-time Ram from this point on, whether he played another snap or not... But you try to say it’s business, it’s personal. It all is intermixed. I don’t think you can separate it. I think you acknowledge that tough decisions have to be made.”

McVay concluded by expressing his love for the player who was drafted the same year he was hired:

“I couldn’t have more respect for him... And I do believe that even though this isn’t an ideal situation, I think there’s going to be a lot of gratitude that I think we both look back on for eight years that what an incredible blessing he’s been. And I’ve always felt a real appreciation and gratitude from him, as well.”

Kupp, who will finish his Rams tenure with 634 catches for 7,776 yards and 75 touchdowns, has two more years left in his contract. He is due $20 million in 2025, then $19.8 million in 2026.