Matthew Stafford quietly added to his Hall of Fame resume on Sunday

There was not many positive things for the Rams to hang their hats on after their 24-18 loss to the Chicago Bears this past week. However, one major milestone was met by their veteran quarterback that should only add to his growing argument for a Hall of Fame gold jacket and a bust in Canton, Ohio.

In the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, QB Matthew Stafford broke into the NFL’s top-10 for career passing yards, bringing his total to 57,025 yards in 210 games. He passes former New York Giant Eli Manning, who had 57,023 yards over the course of 236 games.

Manning may give up another top-10 spot soon as well, as Stafford currently ranks 11th all-time with 359 career passing touchdowns. He needs only eight more to pass Eli for 10th in that category as well.

The Rams quarterback is now also the second-leading active passer all-time, only behind Aaron Rodgers. Stafford spoke about getting into the top-10 after the game, saying it’s a “humbling thing to be mentioned with a great player like Eli,” per Sarah Barshop of ESPN.

“[Manning] obviously had an outstanding career,” Stafford added. “And I’m sure at the end of the season or whatnot, I will spend more time thinking about that kind of stuff. I was a fan of this game long before I became a player of it in the NFL and to be mentioned with some of those guys is a really cool, humbling thing for me.”

Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images

Stafford was seeking more of a long-term commitment from the Rams this offseason due to the lack of guaranteed money on his deal past 2024, and was given just that in the form of a slight increase of guaranteed money for 2025 and 2026. With over three-quarters of a season left, and potentially more years in LA beyond that, he should continue to have ample opportunities to add to his totals.

It’s no surprise to see Stafford breaking into the top-10 as he has been one of the NFL’s most consistent passers since entering the NFL in 2009. He threw for over 4,000 yards in seven straight seasons from 2011-17, and is one of only nine quarterbacks to ever throw over 5,000 yards in a single-season. Stafford was also the fastest player in NFL history to reach multiple passing milestones, including 30,000, 40,000, and 50,000 career passing yards.

Many have debated where Stafford lies in the context of NFL history. While his bid for the Hall of Fame has only gone up since winning his first Super Bowl in 2021, some still point to his lack of success in Detroit, outside of individual stats, as a reason for why he may not get in. Still with years ahead of him, Stafford already has a Super Bowl victory and a realistic shot to get into the top-5 passing yards and top-10 passing touchdowns all-time. Most of all though, you can’t tell the history of the 2010’s era of football without mentioning Stafford, and that may be just enough for #9 to get his gold jacket.