With the Los Angeles Rams having been so close to the prize in the past two seasons, there should be remaining confidence that the window is still open for another deep run. For 2026, the Rams have the nucleus of their roster returning, two Round 1 draft picks, and a good amount of spending cash for free agency or extending their star players.
The notion of extensions is important, because L.A. will have 15 unrestricted free agents and four restricted. There are 12 starters in that mix, so the spring of 2026 brings a plethora of roster decisions. Should they be an active suitor in free agency or begin to narrow the long list Rams players with contracts needing renewal.
Unrestricted free agents
QB – Matthew Stafford
With Stafford under contract in 2026 for $40mil, the Rams could extend him another year, in theory, for similar money. There are a couple of caveats. One, would Staff, or more realistically his agent, as the likely NFL MVP, want to remain as #16 highest paid QB? Two, he will be 39 in 2027 and sooner rather than later, L.A. will have to tip their hand concerning a transition plan. Depending on who would be next in line, if L.A. would decide to move on, that big chunk of money would go quite a way towards re-upping others.
WR – Puka Nacua
The bargain days are over, Nacua’s in line for a huge raise. How much do you pay for, arguably, the best receiver in the game? Likely in the $38-42mil range per season, that’s what top-tier wide outs are running these days. While I think most fans would like to see him extended early, if L.A. waits until after next year to negotiate and if Staff retires or the Rams move on, Puka could absorb that $40mil.
WR – Davante Adams
Since the Rams narrative is that Adams will be back in 2026 and no talk of a pay cut, any extension would likely have to be on very friendly terms to the Rams.. He’ll turn 35 during latter part of the 2027 regular season and he’s already past the point of being paid with top-tier receivers.
TE – Colby Parkinson
It seems to me that any notion about extending Parkinson should be post-2026 and depend on the development of Terrance Ferguson. The Rams have set his salary bar at roughly $9mil per and that’s not exorbitant, but he only been on the field for 55% of snaps over the first two years of his contract.
TE – Davis Allen
Not really sure that it would take an extension, but keeping Allen around at the league minimum or with a small raise appears to me as good business. A solid TE#3.
C – Coleman Shelton
Shelton’s salary of $9.5mil in 2026 puts him in the Top 10 of center compensation and sets the bar going forward. He’ll be 32 for the 2027 season. The Rams braintrust really holds him in high regard and with Beaux Limmer falling off the face of the earth, there’s a case for a short extension.
G – Kevin Dotson
Is it already that time? Seems like just yesterday the Rams handed him his first extension. He’s the Rams best lineman and in line for a another substantial raise. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if his contract is in the $25mil range. If L.A. can keep him off the open market, they should.
G – Steve Avila
It’s been up-and-down for Avila, mostly up, but nagging injuries have made it tougher to judge his future worth. He’ll deserve a raise up from his $4.5mil, doubled for sure. I might use that as a base and scale up from there based on the length of of the deal.
T – Warren McClendon
Fans will get a first full-picture view of McClendon in 2026 and then, boom, he’s up for new contract. He’s been good, but I think that discretion should rule the day on his next contract. If McClendon doesn’t stand out in 2026, I might tender a Rams friendly offer and not blink if he wants to test the open market.
DT – Kobie Turner
If the Rams are going to extend Kyren Williams, Quentin Lake, and Nate Landman, not because of extraordinary talent, but because they embody the Rams play style, a Kobie Turner extension should atop the Rams to-do list. I’m not going to go all Rams fan-blind and say he’s an all-time great, but he’s damn solid, the kind of cornerstone you can build on. Top-tier interior players are well compensated these days. Still, I would try to start him at $17-18mil and scale up from there over four years.
E – Byron Young
Young has been a bargain for the Rams and earned a raise. While he isn’t at the top of the market, a case can be made that he’s in the $20mil+ per range. If the Rams could wrap him up at this price on a short term deal they should, but he could easily command big money on the open market. I’m not sure that the way the Rams defense is set up, that they need a $25-28mil player in his role.
E – Desjuan Johnson
Not a bad player to keep around for the bottom of the roster but not the type to extend. He plays hard and finally got some special teams work in 2025
CB – Darious Williams
I really don’t expect Williams back for 2026, let alone 2027
CB – Emmanuel Forbes
I would prefer the Rams to upgrade with new, young talent, but it’s all on Forbes. If in 2026 he shows that he’s worked hard to patch up his weak areas, offer a “show me” contract at the minimum. To earn an extension and raise there needs to be definite improvement shown.
P – Ethan Evans
Still a work in progress, although pretty good at dropping punts inside the 20, bring him back at the minimum or tender a small raise. Hard to make a case for other teams really clamoring for mid-tier player.
Restricted free agents
QB – Stetson Bennett
ILB – Omar Speights
CB/S – Josh Wallace
S – Jaylen McCollough
The Rams can keep all four for less than $4.5mil and all except Bennett have been of service. That strikes me as good value. If a rookie or free agent proves better for the job and pushes one or more off the backend of the roster, that’s fine as well.
Is it realistic to extend most of the 2027 free agents?
In theory, yes, but a lot will transpire over this next year. The NFL is quite transitory and while the Rams like to have year-to-year roster continuity, there’s a good chance of surprise arrivals/departures. With that said, on the overthecap.com site, where I retrieved all the above salary numbers, they have a salary cap calculator that fans can use.
For the 2027 roster, leaving out Davante Adams, Desjuan Johnson, Darious Williams, and Emmanuel Forbes, I was able to extend all the others and build a group of 51 vets, along two rookie classes comprised of 10 players each and have a bit less than $14mil of cap space in remainder. The free agents were signed to straight one-year extensions, at realistic market prices, and I didn’t employ any of the transactional hocus-pocus that NFL team accountants are so adept at, to lower cap hits.
It’s a very simple exercise, but does show that keeping the band together is quite possible. Which of the 2027 free agents do you think the Rams should extend?
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