This year’s Los Angeles Rams were one of the best in all of football. But they ran into what is resoundingly the best team in the NFL in the Seattle Seahawks. LA came up just short in the NFC Championship game.
The Rams were on the cusp of reaching their third Super Bowl under Sean McVay. Matthew Stafford is playing the best football of his decade-and-a-half career.
It makes total sense to pick up the pieces for one final run… right?
I’m not so sure.
Los Angeles’ roster is young in all the best spots. They have a league-leading receiver in Puka Nacua. Their defensive line talent is a collection of some of the most team-friendly rookie contracts across the NFL with Kobie Turner, Byron Young, Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, and Tyler Davis. The Rams just hit the jackpot with Warren McClendon and now won’t have to spend high dollar in free agency to replace Rob Havenstein.
There are holes, of course. The entire cornerback room needs overhauled and revamped. LA needs a formidable receiver that can compliment Nacua and pose a threat between the 20-yard lines. These are premium positions and upgrading in this area will cost either a pretty penny or premium draft capital.
But nonetheless the Rams have one of the most young and promising rosters in the NFL. If they can thread the needle between the Stafford era and the team’s next franchise quarterback, they are well-positioned for success for the foreseeable future.
It’s easy to talk yourself into tooling up for one more run. The Rams themselves have pushed all the chips to the middle of the table before and won the Lombardi jackpot.
This time seems different, however.
Does a narrow focus on the short-term jeopardize a roster that is well-suited for the future? With how many ascending young players the Rams have to re-sign, can they really afford bloated veteran contracts?
The Rams’ best chance to win a Super Bowl with Stafford probably was in 2025. Now Stafford, Davante Adams, and others are another year older. They enjoyed incredible success. But if we are honest, the Rams enjoyed some fortunate developments on the injury front and that is never guaranteed.
For as much as it makes sense to go “all in” again, it also seems wise to embrace the young talent in Los Angeles and stick with the youth movement. With two first-round picks in this spring’s draft, LA could easily come away with cornerstone players at receiver and corner. This would give them long-term answers at the most important positions across the roster.
Turning the page won’t be easy. It would mean saying goodbye to veterans who have memorable moments in horns: Adams, Darious Williams, Kam Curl, and possibly Stafford.
We cannot ignore that the Rams have a promising future. It should be protected at all costs, even if that means not making the most of the final year of a championship window. It could be time to replace the window.
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