DETROIT - Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford celebrated his three-year, $53-million contract extension Wednesday the best way he knew how - with a run on the treadmill and a round of golf.

That Stafford snuck a workout in on the same day he inked a deal to make him one of the 10 highest-paid players in the NFL came as little surprise to those who know him best.

Most mornings this off-season, before, during and after the Lions' formal program, Stafford was at team headquarters, in the weight room, watching film or wooing a free agent.

"This process started back in February when he was in here by himself, nobody else in the building," Lions president Tom Lewand said. "He was here working out, he was here getting better, he was here looking to the future and looking to the season. Part of that process, and he referenced it, is becoming a leader in the locker room, a leader on the field, a leader off the field, and he has worked incredibly hard at all phases of that over the last few years, but particularly this off-season.

"He worked hard on the contract front and for him it really was more about the process, more about being here, more about solidifying himself as the leader of this team and of that locker room than it was about every last zero or every last dollar and cent on the contract."

Stafford still got plenty of those.

He'll make $76.5 million over the next five years, on top of the $50.5 million he earned in his first four NFL seasons.

Not a bad payday for a 25-year-old, even if by quarterback standards it falls a tier below deals signed recently by Aaron Rodgers, Joe Flacco, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.

The common thread among that quartet that Stafford lacks?

"A Super Bowl ring," Stafford said. "That's what those guys have. League MVP, Super Bowl rings, years of experience doing it. All of that. And I think that's what is a great opportunity for me in the next four or five years is to get to that level, and hopefully stay with this organization for a long time."

Flacco rolled the Let's-Make-A-Deal dice last off-season, turning down a reported five-year, $80-million deal and gambling that he'd make more with a better 2012 and all the leverage that came with it.

In February, a month after leading the Ravens to the Super Bowl, he cashed in with a six-year, $120-million contract.

Stafford, 25, had plenty of incentive to wait thanks to the massive rookie deal he signed as the No.1 overall pick in 2009, a contract that he restructured twice previously. And like Flacco, he considered gambling on himself.

"There were people out there that wanted me to do that and I thought about it," he said. "But I wanted to do what was right for the club and what was right for me. Like I said months ago and you guys didn't believe, I said I'm not in it to sign mega contracts, I'm in it to win games and I'm happy to be here and I'm happy to do what I can to help this club and get as many players around as we can."

While contract talks had been ongoing since February's combine, they picked up considerable steam in recent weeks.

Lewand said Stafford was the one who "really drove this process," and when the two sides closed in on a deal last week he even inquired about how the team will use the cap savings it's getting, a reported $7 million this year and next.

"One of the reasons that was in my head early on for signing it is I don't want to go for the next three years talking about, 'Well, you've got two years left, now you've got one year left, now you're getting franchised,'" Stafford said. "That's just something I'm not about. I want to be about the team, I want to help the team out if I can in cap space or whatever it is. I want good players around me as a quarterback; it doesn't hurt to have weapons. If I can help out any way I can I'm happy to do it."

Stafford, of course, helped himself plenty in his new deal, too, especially considering his meager won-loss record as a starter (17-28).

If all goes well, Stafford, who already owns most of the Lions' single-season passing records, will get a third mega contract while he's still in the prime of his career. He'll play the final season of this deal, in 2017, at age 29.

"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 is to be here and turn this thing in the right direction and make sure it stays that way for a long time.

"I know it seemed like it took forever, but it was a deal that I'm extremely happy to sign and happy to be here for a long time."