“More Money in Their Pockets”: Matthew Stafford Vents Frustration Against NFL Owners After Horrifying Jayden Daniels Situation

With its plan to expand the league, the NFL wants to add one more game to its schedule, even with some specific conditions from the players.

By Week-2, we have several primary quarterbacks out for weeks, if not the entire season.

Player safety continues to be at risk, as Matthew Stafford explains why he didn’t like to see Jayden Daniels go down.
Many NFL players today would call it a blessing to have a job they love. But how much is too much? Forget the natural grass-international games-league expansion debate; the biggest dilemma on everyone’s minds as we move closer to 2027 is the 18-game season. The NFL and the team owners have already met twice to discuss the date for Super Bowl XLII, which will ultimately decide whether they can play 18 games next season. Each time, there was a big holdup. Of course, they need permission from the NFL Players Association. Of course, the players are not willing to make that sacrifice. And it doesn’t even have to do with the time they spend training, by the way.

Just look at the current scenario. We are only two weeks into the 2026 regular season, and multiple primary quarterbacks and other players are down with injuries. Teams that looked like proper contenders are scrambling to create new plays for their backups. Week 1, it was the reigning champions’ Sam Darnold. Week 2, the Chicago Bears’ Caleb Williams, the Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels, and the New York Giants’ Jaxson Dart went down. As a fan, surely we’ll love more games. As the league and team owners, this is more business. But as players, even if their specific request is granted, a nod seems implausible. Ahead of his own Week 2 MNF game, when Dart went down with a possible season-ending injury, the Los Angeles Rams’ QB Matthew Stafford made it clear why.

“I think you hit the nail on the head there,” Stafford said on the Let’s Go! podcast on Monday. “I think the league wants it really badly. I’m imagining it’s just another opportunity for them to secure more TV rights and more money in the pockets of the owners in the league and everybody and expand our game. I understand that whole aspect of it.

“But at the same time, I think there’s got to be some understanding for player safety. I know the game started when I was in 2009; we were playing 16. Now we’re playing 17, 18. When does it stop? And how does that balance happen?”

When the league expanded to its 17-game plan in 2021, they reduced the four preseason games to the current three. If it moves to 18 games, it could choose to ditch one more preseason game. But the thing is, most starters play barely ten percent of those games because they don’t want an injury before the season even kicks off to scramble their plans for a deep, successful run. And then there’s one more hurdle.

While trying to sell the plan to the NFLPA, the league even considered their wish to add another bye week. So, effectively, the league will add two more weeks to the season for one more game. It obviously does not mind that because its plan is simple.

With 18 games, they want every team to have an international game, which is yet another thorn in players’ ability to play their best. Just look at what happened in LA’s Week-1 loss to the San Francisco 49ers! If the league does expand to two bye weeks, it believes each team can have one bye week right after its international game, and another like it already does. The 49ers tight end George Kittle has one more request to add.

“The one thing that didn’t really make sense to me is you signed a contract to play 16 games,” Kittle questioned Front Office Sports in May. “They added the 17th game, and you don’t get paid money anymore; your paycheck just gets cut an extra time. So you’re making 17 paychecks instead of 16. So, in my opinion, if you bumped up the payment a little bit for that last game instead of cutting it again, I think guys would be more interested in that as well.”

I would even go as far as to say that they should ask for a natural grass field in every arena if 18 games are to be played. Why not? After all, the safety of the players who literally make these things possible is a serious concern, something that is increasingly diminishing in the league this season.

Matthew Stafford explains why he supports Jayden Daniels before another QB went down in his MNF matchup
What happened with Daniels was simply unfortunate. The quarterback was doing everything you’d expect of your franchise cornerstone — using his legs, throwing great, and moving the chains — before, while trying to brace himself, he went down awkwardly. FOX Sports analyst Tom Brady couldn’t even hide his natural reaction while calling that game because the injury was that horrific. You could see Daniels’ dislocated elbow as he was being taken out of the field. And that’s what Stafford also believes.

“I love watching quarterbacks play, and guys play well. And to have to deal with injuries is a tough part of it,” Stafford added. “Jayden’s had to deal with it a few times. And that elbow seems like it’s been an issue going back even to last year. And it’s really demoralizing to see that because he’s a talented player.

“He’s a guy that I think has a bright future. And you see those things start recurring. It’s tough. So you feel for him.”

Jayden Daniels had a strong start to his NFL career when the Commanders drafted him as the second overall pick in 2024. He racked up 3,568 passing yards and 25 touchdowns with a 12-5 record to bring the Commanders back to life and earn the Rookie of the Year nod. But since the 2025 season, durability and injuries have become the defining storyline for him.

Last year, the Commanders QB missed ten total games due to three separate injuries. He suffered a left knee sprain in Week 2, a hamstring strain just a couple of weeks later, and the same dislocated left elbow in Week 9. Though he returned in Week 14, he immediately re-injured the elbow and was shut down for the remainder of the year. This season, the unbelievable misfortune struck earlier, and he is already out for the team’s Week-3 game against the Seattle Seahawks. To Stafford’s surprise, the QB he was facing also had tough luck.

Another franchise QB goes down while the team owners continue pushing for more
After the first two days of Week 2, we were hoping the injury bug would be squashed in the NFL. It didn’t. This time, it took down one of the stronger and the youngest primary quarterback: Jaxson Dart. In Stafford’s Monday night win over the Giants, Dart got sandwiched between two defenders. He walked off on his own power, right from the blue tent to the locker room, denying the need for an X-ray. But things took a turn for the worse.

Dart was trying to return to the game, knowing his team had a better chance with him out there. Naturally, the team confiscated his uniform. He did return to the sidelines in his casual clothes, but an MRI scan proved it could be the end of his season.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Dart’s knee is worse than it looked, and he might need surgery, effectively ending his season before it truly even began. But the team owners have a different mind.

NFL owners were the primary architects behind the historic shift from 16 to 17 regular-season games back in 2021, and they are actively driving the collective push for an 18-game regular season as well.

Prominent owners like Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots and Clark Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs have openly stated they are “pushing like the dickens” for 18 games to secure larger broadcast rights and fuel global expansion.

For now, it’s a serious debate that ultimately revolves around what is best for the NFL players. But with the league and the team owners having an upper hand, the votes in the room are lopsided, and the NFLPA might have to bow down, even with more conditions to improve player safety.