When Matthew Stafford returned home in the wee hours of January 26, he was devastated. In the aftermath of the 31-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship, he was unsure how long his body or mind would support his pursuit of a Super Bowl. So he did what any sane man would do: Put his worries to rest and think about what matters most. Tiptoeing into his daughters’ room to kiss them goodnight, Stafford didn’t just fulfill fatherly duties. It was a small moment that also reflected his overall mindset regarding his future.

“Oh, it’ll be a lot. It’ll be a lot that goes into it,” Stafford said on SiriusXM’s “Let’s Go” podcast on Monday, commenting on how he’ll decide on his future. “It’s a physical, a mental and emotional decision, a personal and a family decision, as well. So, we’ll figure all that kind of stuff out with some time.

“I know I had a ton of fun playing football this season and had so much fun playing for the Rams,” Stafford added. “So when I’m ready to figure that out, I’ll be ready to figure that out. That moment isn’t right now. I have so much more time, I feel like, to reflect on just the people and the season that we just had. I want to appreciate that and give it the time that it deserves before I start thinking personally about what’s next for me and my family and me.”

The keyword to concentrate on in his monologue would be “family”. Because not just the veteran signal caller, even his wife knows how her husband has his priorities straight.

“Retirement sounds great, I’m not gonna lie,” Kelly Stafford admitted to E! News in February last year. “He’s been at this for 16 years. But he’s a dad and that’s probably his favorite job. He misses his kids during the season.”

And that exact emotion showed itself in full force when a tired and weary Stafford made sure he gave his kids the love they deserved.

“After leaving everything out on that field and coming up short, at 2:30 a.m., this was Matthew,” Kelly wrote, sharing a Nest camera footage on Instagram a day after the Rams’ latest loss, adding to more speculations about Stafford’s retirement.

And not just that, the next morning, the couple also surprised their daughters, Sawyer and Chandler, both 8, Hunter, 7, and Tyler, 5, with a box of doughnuts for the girls to wake up to, with a message that read: “Thank you for being such rockstars for me all season long! Y’all were the inspiration for Daddy’s incredible year! We [love] you!!”

But no matter how much a family life appeals to the 37-year-old, not everyone thinks he’s ready to hang up his cleats just yet.

Question of the offseason: To retire or not to retire?

Despite Matthew Stafford’s stellar performance this season, leading the league in passing yards (4,707), passing touchdowns (46), conversations have been rife about his future. Stafford will be 38 by the time Super Bowl LIX is over, yet he is coming off an MVP-caliber season and led the Rams to within a few plays of another Super Bowl appearance. Which is exactly why former NFL quarterback and current NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms had an important message for Stafford.

“(The Rams)’re in the window, in a big-time way,” Simms said. “They’re here to stay for the next few years with the way their team is built. If I was Matthew Stafford and the way he’s playing, I certainly wouldn’t be thinking about retiring or anything like that.”

The reality also helps explain why Stafford could return in 2026. The Rams finished the season with the league’s top-scoring offense and are not facing the loss of key offensive pieces, meaning the core of the unit would largely remain intact. Stafford has also said in past interviews that he would continue playing as long as he feels healthy, and by all indications, he finished the 2025 season relatively unscathed.

Top Stories

Prayers Pour In as Cowboys Legend Scott Laidlaw Passes Away at 72

Natural Disaster Strikes San Francisco Just Hours After Sam Darnold, Drake Maye & Co. Arrives for Super Bowl LX

Amid Patrick Mahomes’ Injury Struggle, Saints QB Officially Announces Signing For Chiefs

Sean McVay Shares Update on Matthew Stafford’s Retirement After Sending Message to Rams QB

NFL Launches Investigation on Giants Owner Mentioned In Epstein Files Amid Russell Wilson Links

Contract considerations also linger in the background. Stafford is set to earn $40 million in 2026, but both sides have operated on a year-to-year basis, leaving room for reassessment after a season of this magnitude. Whether that football reality ultimately outweighs the pull of family life remains the central question. But while Stafford has remained noncommittal about his future, the Rams’ head coach has made his position crystal clear.

Sean McVay snaps after a Matthew Stafford retirement question

When reporters pressed the Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay about whether he expects his franchise quarterback to return for the 2026 season, the typically composed coach didn’t hold back his frustration with the line of questioning.

“If he still wants to play. What the hell kind of question is that?” McVay snapped back in the post-game press conference. “We’ve been totally present. I know if he wants to, he’s still playing at a pretty damn good clip. I mean, he’s the MVP of the league. If he’s not, I mean, I got respect for everybody else, but this guy played at a level that’s just different.”

McVay’s passionate defense of his quarterback spoke volumes about Stafford’s value to the organization and the mutual respect between coach and player. For now, the football world will simply have to wait as the MVP-caliber quarterback takes the time he needs to chart his next chapter.