Rams sweetened Matthew Stafford's contract, but the details remain elusive

On Friday, the Rams and quarterback Matthew Stafford mended fences and renewed vows. Or at least staved off a divorce for another year.

So what did the Rams offer Stafford to get him to stay? The fact that three days have passed without any numbers being leaked points to the very real possibility that it wasn't anything to brag about.

Agents always brag about big deals. Even when the client insists on secrecy, agents who hope to parlay current results into future clients can find a way to get the word out to a "per sources" reporter without leaving fingerprints.

Besides, the contract always gets filed, with both the league and the NFL Players Association. The truth, whatever it is, will be known.

For now, it looks like the deal isn't done. That required Stafford to take a leap of faith that the paperwork will match the promises. After the Raiders and Giants make their plans at the position for 2025, his "or else" options evaporate. Stafford needs to hope that everyone with the power over Stan Kroenke's pursestrings will make good on whatever Stafford was told.

Albert Breer of SI.com reports that the two sides agreed to "parameters" that will give him a "very significant raise" for 2025. Currently, he's due to make $27 million in 2025 and $29 million in 2026.

So what will "very significant" be? Is it $80 million over the next two years? $90 million?

The Raiders reportedly were willing to pay up to $100 million on a two-year deal. As we understand it, the Giants were, too. If Stafford ends up with $40 million per year and not $50 million, that's a lot to leave on the table.

Then there's the issue of taxes. In Nevada, the state income-tax rate is zero percent. In California, Stafford pays 13. Although it's more complicated given that taxes on game checks depend on the state in which the games are played, a $40 million compensation package loosely translates to $5.2 million in California taxes — and $0.00 in Nevada taxes.

Stafford's 2025 take-home pay could be much greater than $27 million minus federal and state taxes. But it could be much less than his after-tax cash from the Raiders or the Giants. Which raises the question of whether Stafford was ever serious about leaving, or whether he simply wanted to get the Rams to make a better offer that he was inevitably going to accept?

If that's the case, the Raiders and Giants have every right to be miffed about playing the role of pawn in the effort to get the Rams to sweeten the pot. If they'd known that Stafford wasn't serious about leaving, why waste their time and increase fan expectations for something that never had a chance of happening?