While Rams fans may still be pondering \u2018what if\u2019 scenarios after the season\u00a0came to a soul-crushing\u00a0end Sunday in Seattle, the organization has no time to waste.\u00a0<\/p>\n
An offseason of questions is quickly approaching and with it comes decisions that will shape the Rams future, not just for next season but for years to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew Stafford holds a game ball as he is interviewed by NBC sideline reporter Melissa Stark after a NFC Divisional Round game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Matt Marton-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Matthew Stafford\u2019s future<\/p>\n
The biggest decision facing the Rams might be out of their hands. It\u2019s up to Stafford to make the call whether he still wants to play, and his decision will set the tone for what the club does next.<\/p>\n
On the surface, it seems like an easy decision. He\u2019s coming off one of the greatest seasons of his illustrious career, showed he could manage the back issues he\u2019s dealing with and displayed a skill level that shows no signs of letting up. The Stafford we saw in 2025 is a projectable commodity for multiple seasons.<\/p>\n
Why wouldn\u2019t he want to return for what will almost certainly be another Super Bowl run?<\/p>\n
\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVincent Bonsignore<\/p>\n
Whether he wants to commit to the year-round process of playing high-level football, though, is a call only he can make. He\u2019s got a family and the next chapter of his life to think about.<\/p>\n
Bottom line, the Rams need an answer relatively soon to set their offseason to-do list so they can maximize the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
Ty Simpson likely will be the No. 2 quarterback in most of the 2026 NFL Draft mock drafts. Charles Baus\/CSM\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
Finding Stafford\u2019s successor<\/p>\n
Sooner or later, the Rams will need a replacement for Stafford. Maybe as early as this season but more likely in 2027.<\/p>\n
Thanks to some fortuitous thinking last year, they are well armed to proactively add a potential successor this offseason. Remember, they traded their 2025 first-round pick to the Falcons on draft night for Atlanta\u2019s first-rounder this year. That means they have two picks in the first round, one of which could be used to select a quarterback.<\/p>\n
Alabama\u2019s Ty Simpson could be had at that point in the draft. He\u2019s got plenty of upside, but he faces a steep learning and development curve. The Rams can groom him behind Stafford for one or two years, then hand things over to him when Stafford calls it quits.<\/p>\n
Sean McVay celebrates after a third quarter touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship game. Getty Images<\/p>\n
Locking up Sean McVay and Les Snead<\/p>\n
There isn\u2019t a better leadership combination in the NFL than McVay and Snead, who have been joined at the hip almost since the moment McVay came aboard in 2017.<\/p>\n
The head coach and general manager are going into the last year of their contracts, and it behooves the Rams to get ahead of any potential issues by locking both in on new deals.<\/p>\n
McVay, a young dad with a young, growing family, has flirted with the idea of moving on to television, and the Rams could play with fire if they don\u2019t extend his stay by another three to five years. If it means making him the NFL\u2019s highest-paid coach by giving him a raise from $15 million to $20 million, it\u2019s something they have to consider.<\/p>\n
Snead seems perfectly situated in Los Angeles, but there are NFL teams that would back up the Brinks truck to give him a promotion as their president of football operations. If he became a free agent, that would undoubtedly happen. The Rams need to make sure it never gets to that point.<\/p>\n
Supplementing the roster<\/p>\n
The Rams need help at cornerback, where a lockdown-caliber cornerback would make a big difference. Also, they must add more athleticism at linebacker, preferably a three-down backer who can play the run and provide quality pass coverage.<\/p>\n
The offensive line is always a need, especially with veteran right tackle Rob Havenstein potentially hitting free agency or retiring.<\/p>\n
McVay did a great job pivoting to a heavy \u201c13\u201d personnel scheme, but part of the adjustment was to compensate for what the club is lacking in terms of speed at wide receiver. Puka Nacua is one of the NFL\u2019s best wide receivers, and Davante Adams still has gas left in the tank. Neither is to be confused with a speedster, though, and the Rams\u2019 entire operation would benefit from someone who can stretch the field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Rams fans may still be pondering \u2018what if\u2019 scenarios after the season\u00a0came to a soul-crushing\u00a0end Sunday in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":710517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[1443,7,1014,58,2444,2611,32,6,2592,424,3307,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-710516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-rams","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-los-angeles","11":"tag-los-angeles-rams","12":"tag-losangeles","13":"tag-losangelesrams","14":"tag-matthew-stafford","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-nfl-free-agency","17":"tag-rams","18":"tag-sean-mcvay","19":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115970641169101668","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=710516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/710517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=710516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=710516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=710516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}