from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2024/06/13/rams-matthew-stafford-contract-issue-details/?taid=666d7437f46e9a0001ad9811&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network shed some light on the matter, saying once again that it’s about guaranteed money beyond the 2024 season and assurances in the final two years of his deal in 2025 and 2026.

“The issue here from my understanding is guaranteed money,” he said. “Matthew Stafford has his salary for this year guaranteed. After that, $32 million, $31 million, but none guaranteed. This is a guy that did have an elbow issue a year ago. I think a lot of people were wondering, ‘Is this the end for Matthew Stafford? Are the Rams going to draft a quarterback?’ There was a lot of that going on, then he went out and had a year where he looked like the old Matthew Stafford: 4,000 yards, 24 touchdowns. Really put a really young team on his back.”

One of the big things that Stafford wants is assurances that he’ll remain the Rams’ quarterback in the coming years. With no guaranteed money left, he likely doesn’t feel his roster spot is safe, which is why he wants the Rams to add some guarantees to the final two years of his deal in order to make it more difficult for them to move on.

“It sounds to me like (he) just wants to know that he is going to be back. Wants to know that his spot on the roster is secure and he is appreciated,” he continued.

Rapoport confirmed what McVay said this week, saying that Stafford is not going to hold out into training camp, which is “good for the team.”

“But there is still a contractual issue that does need to be solved for a guy who has won a Super Bowl with the Rams and has been unbelievably important to their resurgence.”

Zooey wrote:

And I really don’t understand the writer at The Athletic who published this today:

Agree. That’s something Rams fans are used to. Superficial accounts that are not really based on knowing the team.

One of my favorites from the old days was from before the season in 99, when some writers said “Faulk can’t run up the middle.”

from Offensive Line Rankings and Tiers – End of Season: https://www.playerprofiler.com/article/offensive-line-rankings-and-tiers-end-of-nfl-season-review-2024-offensive-line-outlook/

Tier 2: Great, just not Elite

5. Los Angeles Rams

Alaric Jackson, Steve Avila, Coleman Shelton, Kevin Dotson, Rob Havenstein

The Rams were arguably my biggest miss coming into the season. The unit had very little NFL experience but has been one of the best units in the NFL. This has helped Matthew Stafford enjoy a resurgence while putting Kyren Williams on the map in the backfield. The right side of the offensive line has been especially impressive with the combination of Kevin Dotson and Rob Havenstein combining to allow just five sacks and 42 pressures on 465 pass-blocking snaps. Dotson especially has been a revelation after coming over from the Steelers. He ranks as PFF’s No. 2 overall guard in 2023.

 

In the last post, Rodrigue discusses the OL starting at about 19:13 in, and it’s really good stuff.

At 32:22 in, she’s very good on the Rams special teams and why they were so bad last year (wasn’t just the kicker).

Why Matthew Stafford holds the power in contract issue with Rams ahead of camp

Gary Klein

https://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/story/2024-06-11/matthew-stafford-contract-situation-rams-quarterback

The Rams were all smiles Tuesday as they completed offseason workouts on a beautiful final afternoon in Thousand Oaks.

Everyone connected with the organization appeared upbeat.

But make no mistake: A pall hangs over the Rams and their sunny disposition as they enter a break before reporting to training camp at Loyola Marymount on July 23.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford went through the voluntary offseason workout program at odds with the Rams over his contract. Coach Sean McVay gave no indication Tuesday that the team and the 16th-year pro are close to finding common ground.

Asked after the workout if there was progress with the Stafford situation, McVay demurred.

“If you had to guess,” he said, “what would you say my answer is going to be?”

Does he anticipate that Stafford will report for the start of training camp?

“That’s my expectation,” McVay said.

How will McVay’s summer go with the Stafford situation hanging over his head?

“I’m just going to think about this every second,” he said sarcastically, adding, “I think, like I said, we’ll keep things internally.

“I couldn’t be more impressed with the way that he’s handled it. The way he’s led — been here every single day doing his thing and that sure means a lot to me.”

But what does it mean for the Rams?

After unexpectedly making the playoffs last season, they are regarded as a potential Super Bowl contender. That projection only rings true, however, if Stafford is under center.

Stafford, 36, has three years remaining on the extension he signed in 2022 after leading the Rams to a Super Bowl title. He is due to carry a salary-cap number of $49.5 million this season, but does not have guaranteed salary in 2025 and 2026, according to Overthecap.com.

During the NFL draft, NFL Network reported that Stafford wanted his contract adjusted to include guaranteed salary beyond this season. McVay acknowledged the report the next day, though not the specifics of what Stafford desires.

“There’s nothing that’s more important than making sure that he feels appreciated,” McVay said at the time, “and he knows how much we love him and want him to lead the way and, you know, I think that the commitment that I think he wants to have can be reciprocated and we want to work toward figuring that out.”

Still, it is not clear exactly what Stafford wants. An adjusted contract? A massive raise like the one recently retired defensive lineman Aaron Donald received after the Super Bowl victory? A new deal?

Stafford has not addressed reporters who cover the Rams since their playoff defeat at Detroit in January. Unlike teammates, Stafford was not made available to the media during the offseason program.

Coaches and players said Stafford operated as usual and showed no sign that he was affected by the contract situation.

The quarterback market has continued to rise since Stafford signed his deal 14 months after the Rams acquired him in a 2021 trade that sent quarterback Jared Goff, two first-round draft picks and a third-round pick to the Detroit Lions in exchange for Stafford.

It’s worth noting that in May — four months after he helped the Lions defeat the Rams in the NFC wild-card game that doubled as Stafford’s homecoming — the Lions awarded Goff with an extension that includes $170 million in guarantees.

Stafford has given no indication that he will not report to training camp but he seemingly has leverage if he opted for that route.

New back-up Jimmy Garoppolo is a proven veteran, but he is suspended for the first two games against the Lions and Arizona Cardinals for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing substance policy while he was playing for the Las Vegas Raiders.

Stetson Bennett is essentially a rookie after sitting out last season to deal with what he has acknowledged were issues that fell under the umbrella of mental health.

McVay on Tuesday praised Garoppolo and Bennett for their progress during the offseason program. Both will be at training camp, McVay said.

Do the Rams really want to go to Detroit with Bennett conceivably making his first NFL start?

McVay and the Rams have experience with a star player holding out because of a contract dispute. In 2017 and 2018, Donald did not report to camp and the Rams managed just fine. The future Hall of Famer’s absence enabled then-defensive coordinator Wade Phillips to experiment with other combinations before Donald showed up.

A missing starting quarterback would be entirely different. It would be a disaster.

So the Rams cannot relax until the Stafford situation is resolved.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by zn.

Four Tops singer’s lawsuit says he visited ER for chest pain, ended up in straitjacket

, https://www.statnews.com/2024/06/11/alexander-morris-four-tops-lawsuit-er-hospital-racism-straightjacket/

When Alexander Morris, a member of the Motown group The Four Tops, visited a Detroit-area Ascension hospital with chest pain and trouble breathing, he said the staff assumed he was mentally ill after he told them he was a famous singer. Instead of treating Morris, a white security guard told him to “sit his Black ass down” and he was placed in a straitjacket, Morris claims in a new lawsuit.

Morris is suing Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital in Warren, Michigan over his April 2023 treatment, alleging racial discrimination and false imprisonment, among other counts. The federal lawsuit, filed on Monday in the Eastern District of Michigan, names as defendants the hospital, a nurse, and a security guard who were involved in the incident.

In a statement, Ascension said it would not comment on pending litigation. “We remain committed to honoring human dignity and acting with integrity and compassion for all persons and the community,” the system said. “We do not condone racial discrimination of any kind.”

Morris described the experience as “terrifying” in a statement shared by his attorneys.

“I see all of these posts on social media like ‘driving while black,’ ‘walking while black,’ but I never imagined I would become a victim of ‘being sick while Black,’” Morris said. “The hospital never fired the security guard that told me to sit my Black ass down. Clearly they condone racism. I filed the lawsuit to hold the hospital accountable for the way I was treated and to protect the younger generations from racism in healthcare.”

The staff members named as defendants are security guard Greg Ciesielski and nurse Holly Jackson. The lawsuit does not mention that Ciesielski, the guard who allegedly made the racial slur, died in September 2023. A GoFundMe page for his family says Ciesielski suffered a ruptured aorta, leaving behind a wife and two adult children. Messages to his wife were not returned. Jackson could not be reached for comment. The ER physician who treated Morris isn’t named as a defendant.

Neither of Morris’ attorneys, Maurice Davis in Southfield, Michigan, or Jasmine Rand of Miami, Florida, responded to questions about the fact that one of the defendants was deceased.

The Four Tops is a Grammy Award-nominated vocal group from Detroit that was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. It’s known for hits like “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” and “Reach Out I’ll Be There.” At the time of the incident, The Four Tops was on a national tour with The Temptations and had recently performed at the Grammy Awards.

Morris has a significant history of heart problems, including the placement of stents and a defibrillator. He was transported to the emergency room on April 7, 2023, by ambulance and was already receiving oxygen. By the end of his hospitalization, he would be diagnosed with a heart attack that may require a heart transplant and pneumonia. He also suffered three seizures during his hospital stay, per the lawsuit.

When he got to the ER, Morris told a nurse and a security guard that he was a member of The Four Tops and that he had security concerns due to stalkers and fans. Morris’ complaint says shortly after check-in, he explained his medical history to an emergency room doctor and told him about his current symptoms.

When he shared his celebrity status, Morris claims that the ER doctor assumed he was mentally ill. He removed Morris’ oxygen and ordered a psychological evaluation “despite his clear symptoms of cardiac distress and significant medical history,” the complaint said.

As this was happening, Morris explained to the staff around him, including the nurse and security guard, that he had identification and could show them who he was. Instead, the security guard told him to “sit his Black ass down.” Morris’ lawsuit said the comment was made in front of at least four staff members, but none of them intervened to stop the mistreatment. To his knowledge, none of them reported the use of a racial slur to a supervisor.

“Moreover, none of the nursing staff thought to simply ask for Plaintiff’s identification,” the complaint says.

Related: How doctors are pressuring sickle cell patients into unwanted sterilizations
In the restraint jacket, Morris allegedly told staff he was having trouble breathing, and asked for the oxygen back. He said he was ignored. Morris then asked to have the jacket removed and for his belongings to be returned so he could leave and go to another hospital. His lawsuit says he was told he couldn’t leave. His medical condition declined. Several security guards were allegedly called to ensure he couldn’t leave.

Eventually, Morris’ wife showed up and saw what was happening. She told a security guard that he was actually a member of The Four Tops, but the guard allegedly left the restraints on and continued to deny Morris medical treatment. Finally, a nurse came to Morris’ side, and Morris asked if he could show her a video of him performing at the Grammy Awards. Realizing he was actually a member of the group, she told the doctor, who said he was canceling the psychological evaluation. Staff removed the straitjacket and placed Morris back on oxygen.

Morris’ lawsuit says he was restrained for about 90 minutes. He was offered a $25 Meijer gift card as an apology, which he declined.

In addition to racial discrimination and false imprisonment, Morris’ lawsuit alleges gross negligence, negligence, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.