Detroit, MI – Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford signed his three-year contract extension on Wednesday.
The Lions posted a picture on their Twitter account of Stafford signing his contract.
The Detroit Free Press reported Tuesday that the deal will include the final two years on his current contract and he will make around $76 million over the next five years, $43 million of which is guaranteed.
"I'm just happy that I'm going to be here for another five (years) getting this team going in the right direction," Stafford said. "I promise you nobody's going to work harder than me to get this team going in the right direction winning games and going to the playoffs multiple years in a row. That's the plan. That's the whole reason I signed this deal, to be here and turn this thing in the right direction and make sure it stays that way for a long time."
The first overall pick of the 2009 draft out of Georgia, Stafford is coming off a 2012 campaign that saw him pass for 4,967 yards with 20 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
That came on the heels of his 2011 season that saw him set several team records for a single season as he passed for 5,038 yards with 41 touchdowns and 16 picks, leading the team to its first playoff appearance since 1999. He joined Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Dan Marino as the only quarterbacks to top 5,000 yards in a season.
After having the 2009 and 2010 seasons cut short due to injury, the 25-year- old has appeared in all 32 games the past two seasons.
In 45 games over four seasons, he has completed 59.8 percent of his passes for 12,807 yards with 80 touchdowns and 54 interceptions, along with seven touchdowns on the ground.
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