Matthew Stafford and his agent were granted permission by the Rams to speak to other teams – and a new report has named four suitors in H๏τ pursuit of the quarterback.

Stafford, 37, is said to be seeking a contract of more than $50million per year –  a significant bump from the $40million he is currently averaging annually under the four-year, $160million pact he signed in 2022.

And while the Rams may not be willing to pay Stafford what he wants, the Giants, Browns, Steelers and Raiders have ‘thrown their hats in the ring’ regarding a potential trade for the pᴀsser, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported.

Breer noted that it’s unclear whether those teams – after presumably trading significant draft compensation to LA – would still be willing to pay Stafford north of $50million per year.

Such a raise would put him at least in the top-10 of the league’s highest-paid quarterbacks.

Breer previously reported that ‘people close to the quarterback’ believe he wants to stick around in Southern California, and Stafford maintains a close relationship with coach Sean McVay.

Matthew Stafford reportedly has four teams in pursuit of him as he seeks a pay raise

The Giants are said to be among the teams potentially interested in trading for Stafford, 37

It remains to be seen if Stafford and his wife, Kelly, will want to move their four daughters

Nonetheless, the two sides are now in an ‘awkward’ situation as Peter Schrager added on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football on Monday.

Schrager said that the Rams were unlikely to financially ‘break their back’ for their quarterback, who led them to a Super Bowl three years ago, while saying that other teams were willing to pay more for the two-time Pro Bowler.

‘It’s a really tough, awkward situation because there is a real friendship, they have a Super Bowl championship together, and there’s no real bad blood at the moment, but the longer this thing proceeds, the uglier it could get,’ he said. 

Read More NFL insider reveals team Aaron Rodgers could join next amid ‘quarterback dominos’

Meanwhile, Schrager casted doubt on whether Stafford, his wife Kelly and their four daughters would want to move to Pittsburgh, and questioned how high of a pick the Giants would be willing to part with for the pᴀsser.

The Giants have the No. 3 overall selection and the No. 34 selection, though the former could be used to select a much younger and cheaper pᴀsser – such as Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward – than Stafford. 

Both Breer and Schrager also suggested that the Rams would not be short on potential options if Stafford were to leave, mentioning Aaron Rodgers and even Jimmy Garoppolo as potential replacements.

Rodgers, 41, looks set to continue playing after the Jets cut ties with him.

And Garoppolo will also be familiar to the Rams after he spent last season as a backup behind Stafford.