The last three offseasons, the Rams have taken a more conservative approach to team building. Draft picks, smart veteran additions around the edges, the occasional splash a la Davante Adams.
But as the Rams await Matthew Stafford’s decision on whether to return for 2026, the quarterback’s MVP-caliber play in 2025 may have given Rams general manager Les Snead more reason to be more aggressive should Stafford be back in the fold next season.
“There is a vision to have sustained success over time,” Snead cautioned. “But if Matthew decides to come back I do think there’ll be an element of – whether it’s 51-49, whether it’s 52-48, whether it’s 60-40 – let’s definitely make the most of the time we have with Matthew. Because … the type of season that he’s still showing he can have, there’s only so many of those left. Those are some moments that you want to take advantage of.”
Speaking on a Zoom press conference Wednesday, Snead reiterated what head coach Sean McVay said Monday, that the Rams will give Stafford – who turns 38 this month – time to make his decision.
The hope on both sides, the general manager said, is that it will be a shorter process than a year ago, when the parties agreed to a reworked contract for 2025 on March 1.
“I think we’ve had productive conversations with him,” Snead said. “So we’re going to give him his space to, let’s call it, recover, rejuvenate and then determine, ‘Hey, do we want to get back on this horse again and go chase, earn, grab special moments together?’”
Whether that process requires another round of contract negotiations remains to be seen. Stafford has one year left on his contract and is due to make a total of $40 million in 2026, which would currently slot him in 16th in the NFL in quarterback salaries for the coming season.
And with Stafford expected to finish no lower than second when the MVP voting results are revealed Thursday after leading the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns, he would seem to have grounds to ask for a raise.
“The first part of the equation is a simple, ‘Hey, I want to be back,’” Snead said. “And then we’ll go from there.”
And go about building the roster around him, and potentially securing the core of the team for the future, too.
The Rams’ 2023 draft class is eligible for rookie contract extensions this winter. It’s a group that includes All-Pro receiver Puka Nacua, Pro Bowl outside linebacker Byron Young, defensive captain Kobie Turner and starting left guard Steve Avila.
“Those are all great players that we obviously have a very high level of interest in continuing to be able to continue our journeys with those guys,” McVay said Monday.
And the Rams potentially are in a position in which they could afford to extend all four. They are projected by OverTheCap to have close to $50 million in cap space this offseason, with the ability to create more either with renegotiated deals with Stafford and Adams or by moving on from other players.
In fact, it’s this very scenario – as well as next offseason when Jared Verse and Braden Fiske will also be extension eligible – that Rams COO Tony Pastoors and his football administration team of Matthew Shearin and Ishaan Mediratta began preparing for in 2024.
“I’ve think they’ve done a nice job where we’re definitely set up,” Snead said. “We have room, we can begin making some of those decisions.”
Snead said the Rams will focus on players on expiring contracts first before moving on to potential extensions. When the organization does turn its attention that direction, it’s Nacua’s fate that will probably come up first.
The former fifth-round pick led the NFL with 129 receptions and was second with 1,715 receiving yards in 2025, despite missing parts of two games with an ankle injury. He also finished with a career-high 10 receiving touchdowns.
It’s the type of production that could lead to a contract that resets the receiver market, similar to what Ja’Marr Chase and the Bengals did last spring with a $161 million, four-year deal. Snead acknowledged how straightforward that would appear to make a negotiation.
“There’s also so many variables that go into that that make it more complex than it would seem on the surface level,” Snead said. “You gotta begin communication and begin working through it to come up with a win-win solution.”
Then there will be other position groups that need more attention as a whole, such as cornerback.
Cobie Durant, Ahkello Witherspoon and Roger McCreary are all free agents this offseason. Darious Williams has one year remaining but the Rams could save $7.5 million against the cap by releasing him. And the Rams will have to make a decision on whether or not to pick up Emmanuel Forbes’ fifth-year option for the 2027 season.
“I think that’s a group because of the contracts expiring, even how many years they’ve been in the league, is definitely something we got to sit down and maybe stabilize it more,” Snead said, “from a standpoint of getting the right people in under the right contracts and things like that based on how many guys are up or voiding or things like that. So it’ll be a position group that we’ll attack over the next few weeks, few months.”
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