By Michael Stets
ALLEN PARK–Matthew Stafford is now the NFL’s highest-paid player after agreeing with the Lions on a record-setting five-year extension worth $135 million on Monday night. But the ninth-year quarterback says not much has changed since the deal became official.
“It’s not much different than I feel yesterday,” Stafford said during a press conference on Tuesday. “I work extremely hard no matter what my salary is for the year or anything like that. It’s just part of what comes with the position of playing quarterback in this league and playing it at a high level and that’s what I strive to do. And I don’t do that for anything other than the guys in the locker room, the coaching staff that puts in all the hard work to get us ready to play and my teammates. Obviously, couldn’t have gotten to this point without a lot of help from all those guys.”
Stafford, 29, said he was sitting at the dinner table with his wife Kelly, who was at the press conference with their twin babies, when he received the official news on Monday night. He smiled, telling her they were going to be in Detroit for six more years, he said.
The negotiations between Stafford and the Lions’ front office have been ongoing since March, and with the regular season right around the corner, Stafford said it became “important” to get the new deal done before the 2017 campaign began.
“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,” he said. “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, [and] to the players in the locker room. So, I wanted to get this thing done and kind of realized that during training camp.
“And like Bob [Quinn] said, without Mrs. [Martha] Ford, Bob’s hard work, [Lions vice president] Matt Harriss, Rod Wood, Coach (Caldwell), everybody involved … It took everybody to get it done in the time frame it did, including Tom Condon and my guys at CAA. So, I just couldn’t have done it obviously without those guys and appreciate them. I’m just glad that we’re getting this thing wrapped up and we can move on to the season.”
“It’s a great day for the Lions organization to secure our quarterback for the next six seasons through the 2022 season,” said Lions GM Bob Quinn, who wouldn’t give any particular details on the contract talks that took place with Stafford. He did praise Stafford’s professionalism throughout the negotiation process, and said the former No.1 overall pick of the 2009 NFL Draft was “a big part” of why he took the job as Lions GM.
“He embodies what we want in a Lion,” Quinn said. “So, he’s a great teammate. He’s tough. He’s competitive. He has tremendous work ethic. He’s one of the first guys in the building every day and I think he’s a great example for our young players and a lot of those guys are following him and he’s doing a good job with that. Obviously, he’s proven that he can perform in tough situations, which is tremendously important at that position and obviously he’s very highly skilled at the quarterback position.”
Stafford was asked if he’s placing high expectations on himself because of the new deal, which will pay him $92 million in guaranteed money, including a $50 million signing bonus. His answer? No, because they are already as high as they can possibly be.
“I feel like I have about as high a level of expectations that you can have,” Stafford said. “Like I said earlier, it doesn’t matter what my salary is for that year. It’s been all sorts of different numbers throughout the years, that doesn’t motivate me. That’s not the main motivator. The main motivator for me is getting respect from the guys in the locker room, people around the League, coaches, players, and winning football games. You do that with hard work, dedication, and a bunch of toughness.”
Said Lions head coach Jim Caldwell, “If we did or didn’t get it done, he’d be the same guy. That’s the unique thing about him. He just comes to work, he’s here early, stays late. There would not be any issues in that regard other than questions coming from the media and those kinds of things from you guys. But it’s good to get it done. Good to know he’s in place and I know his teammates feel good and he certainly feels good about it, and the organization feels great about it.”
Caldwell said having a quarterback like Stafford under center is a “difference maker,” when asked how much confidence he has now that the Lions have locked him up through the 2022 season.
“It’s a game changer because of the fact that, we do have a guy that’s extremely explosive,” Caldwell said. “We do have a guy that’s smart, he’s tough, he’s a good leader. When your hardest worker is your best player, there’s a lot of things to be said about that in terms of leadership coming from that position. So, we feel great about that. There are some teams that obviously may be in a little flux, just in terms of that position. We’re glad that we have a guy that’s been stable there for us for a long time and will be here in the future as well.”
A future that begins on September 10 at Ford Field against the Arizona Cardinals, in a city–starving for a playoff win since 1991– that Stafford will happily continue to call home for several more years.
“I’ve made Detroit my home and obviously I have a family now. You can hear them in the background cheering for me, I guess [He pointed to his wife and the twins, who were making noise in the background]. But no, I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve learned to embrace everything good, bad about the city. I think that’s what’s great about the people of Detroit. It’s not always perfect, but the fabric of this city is amazing and it’s a really tight knit community, so I’ve enjoyed my time. I know I’m going to enjoy the next six years and hopefully more after that, being a part of not only this organization, but this city and this state.”