ALLEN PARK, Michigan — Matthew Stafford said he was relieved to get his much anticipated contract extension done this week so he could turn his full attention to the regular season and the Detroit Lions’ Sept. 10 opener against the Arizona Cardinals.
“It was important,” Stafford said. “It wasn’t something that all along I knew was going to be the case, but as it got into training camp a little bit I realized that I think we have an extremely talented team, and for us to be worrying about — or anybody, even myself — about my contract situation or what it was going to be, was going to be a disservice to the organization, to our team, to the players in the locker room.
“I’m just glad that we’re getting this thing wrapped up and we can move on to the season.”
Stafford’s new five-year deal makes him the highest paid player in the NFL by every contractual measure.
His contract averages $27 million per season, includes more than $60 million in immediate guarantees and will be worth $135 million if he plays it out through 2022.
Stafford said talks remained “cordial” throughout the negotiating process, and he never truly considered the Kirk Cousins option of playing out multiple franchise tags to force his way to free agency.
“At certain points in time, everything’s in play,” Stafford said. “But in the back of my mind I’ve always wanted to be here. And from the first day I met with (my agent), after I talked with (general manager Bob Quinn) and all those guys in February, that was the first question he asked me and I said, ‘Absolutely, I want to be in Detroit.’ And you never know if that’s always going to work out or not, but that was my wish and intention all the way back then.”
Quinn said both sides “made some concessions” in order to strike a fair deal for everyone involved. Stafford received significantly more money than the last highest paid player in the NFL, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr ($25 million average), while the Lions maintained the flexibility to put a competitive roster around their 29-year-old quarterback.
“There’s more money to go around,” Quinn said. “And it’s my job and the scouting department’s job and our contract people’s job to make everything fit and field the most competitive people that we can. And I think making this contract and doing this contract with Matthew and his representatives was one step into a long process that we’re building. And we still have more room to grow.”