Los Angeles Rams Offseason Preview

This is part of an ongoing series of offseason previews.

2025 Season in a Nutshell

If not for …

• One blocked field goal against the Eagles
• One missed field goal against the 49ers
• One Matthew Stafford Pick-6 against the Panthers
• One punt return touchdown by the Seahawks
• One 93-yard Bijan Robinson run
• One muffed punt against the Seahawks in the playoffs

… the 2025 Rams could have gone down as one of the greatest teams in NFL history.

Coaching Situation

Sean McVay is only 40 years old, yet he has already reached the stage in his career where if you praise him as a strategic mastermind, someone will counter with, What about those mistakes he made in that playoff game against the Bears, which the Rams won, the 10th postseason victory of McVay’s career? Huh? Huh?

McVay got off easy in the coach-poaching department this year. Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur left to become the Cardinals head coach. McVay planned to interview multiple applicants for LaFleur’s position at presstime, but passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase looks ready to climb out of the cloning vat to replace him.

Defensive coordinator Chris Shula got head coaching interviews but no offers, so he’s back. Bubba Ventrone was hired away from the Browns to take a fire extinguisher to the special teams.

Quarterback Situation

Matthew Stafford and his wife will bounce from one ultra-exclusive resort to the other until spring, communicating with neither the Rams nor the media. Retirement rumors will swirl. McVay and Les Snead, shrewd operators in most circumstances but hormonal middle schoolers when it comes to all things Stafford, will work themselves into a tizzy and, after a long negotiation against themselves, offer Stafford even more money in a restructured contract.

Stafford will return for training camp, never mentioning his contract situation but complaining about a mysterious neck injury that can only be healed using alien spores.

For the Rams, this is business as usual.

State of the Lineup

It’s really strong. Outstanding playmakers. Capable offensive line. Nasty, deep defensive front. Shaky-but-far-from-hopeless secondary. Specialists who should be stuffed in a box and shipped to Saskatchewan.

There aren’t even many over-the-hill or overpaid guys lurking on the Rams roster, even though perennial contenders who won the Super Bowl a few years ago are usually groaning with them. Unless you count Stafford. And you shouldn’t!

Cap and Draft Situation

The Rams have $48 million in paper cap space and two first-round picks? Unfair! Unfair!

The Rams will select 13th overall – the Falcons’ slot in the first round – then 29th, 61st and 93rd in the first three rounds.

Rob Havenstein announced his retirement early in the week, so Taylor Higbee and Kamren Curl are the top Rams in-house free agents. Curl will likely get an offer to stick around. The Rams like Higbee but have a whole stockpile of tight ends just like him.

A bunch of Rams cornerbacks are about to hit the market, and it will be the first thing some of them hit in years! (Rimshot) Seriously, the Rams might make some offers to Roger McCreary/Cobie Durant types, but they won’t get into any bidding wars.

So yes, the Rams have one of the NFL’s best rosters and can both add at least one premium prospect AND be as active as they choose in free agency. Unfair! Unfair!

One Thing the Rams Should Do

Watch the Brandon Aubrey situation in Dallas. Aubrey, one of the NFL’s best kickers, is a restricted free agent: the Cowboys can tender him an offer and retain the right of first refusal. It’s a little more complicated than that, but that’s the point: the Cowboys don’t do complicated things well. If the Cowboys, say, balk at offering Aubrey over $7 million (the amount which would force any team trying to match it to give up a first-round pick), the Rams should pounce.

In Summary

The rich get richer. The smart get smarter. The Rams remain one step ahead of the forces of central tendency. Don’t be surprised if they make some outside-the-box moves, because their slugging percentage on such moves is high. Or as Snead and McVay might say: “Fuck ‘em boxes.”