Kelly Stafford is relieved to have husband Matthew Stafford’s offseason trade saga behind them.
Days after the Rams quarterback re-upped with Los Angeles on a restructured contract, the mother of four elaborated on the uncertainty that engulfed their family over the past three weeks and how it drove her “f–king mad.”
“He’s [Stafford] very good at compartmentalizing everything. Me on the other hand, when he says you think about the uncertainty all the time you go crazy, I went f–king mad, I went so crazy,” Kelly said Thursday on her “Morning After” podcast.
As difficult as the past few weeks were, Kelly tipped her hat to Rams coach Sean McVay for being “such a good communicator.”
“I give him so much credit in that,” Kelly said. “And obviously, it is public that there was that 6:30 a.m. meeting, and that was him, and I just felt like he wanted to make sure that everything was good for everybody and I was grateful for that. … I know that all you want to do is play for him too. I think the uncertainty killed me in a lot of ways, but, at the end of the day, what I want is what’s best for you.”
At the end of an “eye-opening process,” the Staffords are where they’re meant to be.
“This is where we both wanted to be, and I’m just glad he gets to play for the team and the coach that he wants to end his career with,” she said.
Stafford, 37, had been at the center of trade buzz for much of the offseason, with the Rams granting the Super Bowl-winning quarterback permission to speak with other teams in February.
The quarterback-starved Raiders and Giants pursued Stafford aggressively, with Big Blue discussing a contract worth $90 million to $100 million.
Stafford had been seeking a new deal in the $50 million-per-season neighborhood.
He had been set to earn a base salary of $23 million for 2025, with a $4 million roster bonus to be paid on the third day of the new league year, according to Spotrac.
The upcoming season will be Stafford’s fifth in Los Angeles.
The former first-overall pick spent the first 12 seasons of his NFL career with the Lions before he was traded to the Rams in January 2021.
Stafford won a Super Bowl in his first season with the team in February 2022. He’s been to the playoffs three of the past four years.
The Rams reached the Divisional Round of the playoffs in January and lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Eagles.
Kelly, who has been married to Stafford since 2015, celebrated his Rams return Saturday on social media.
“No place like home,” Kelly posted on Instagram.
The Staffords have made the West Coast their home with their four daughters: 7-year-old twins Chandler and Sawyer, Hunter, 6, and 4-year-old Tyler.
Before the Rams reached a resolution with Stafford, Kelly spoke openly about the uncertainty the family faced.
“I love the city of LA … and I love the life that we have built here,” Kelly said. “With that being said, I love an adventure. I am all for it. Right now, if the Rams decided that they wanted to trade him or Matthew decided he didn’t want to play for the Rams, I am good. Move my family, yeah that might be tough — first month hard — after, it turns out, I like my kids to be resilient.
Stafford threw for 3,762 yards in 16 regular-season games last season, along with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
