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Sarah Barshop
LOS ANGELES — In his end-of-season news conference, Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead made it clear: If Matthew Stafford decides to come back, the goal will be to «make the most of the time we have» with the quarterback.
After Stafford, 38, was named NFL MVP last week, he announced he would be back in Los Angeles for the 2026 season.
Snead said while there will be a «balance» with how the Rams continue to build their roster around Stafford, «The type of season he had, the type of season that he’s still showing that he can have, there are only so many of those left.
«Those are some moments that you want to take advantage of for sure.»
The Rams are coming off a 12-5 regular season and a loss in the NFC Championship Game to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
At the start of the offseason, here’s a look at the areas the Rams should focus on in order to make the most of the 2026 season with their MVP quarterback:
Cornerback
The position group with the most questions entering the offseason is cornerback, as the Rams have four players who will be free agents: Cobie Durant, Ahkello Witherspoon, Roger McCreary and Derion Kendrick. Cornerback Darious Williams has one season left on the three-year deal he signed in 2024 but has a cap hit of $8.66 million and no guaranteed salary remaining on the deal.
«Obviously with just the contract situation in general of a lot of those guys, that’s a spot that we will definitely look closely into and figure out how we consistently figure what’s the best things for our football team,» coach Sean McVay said in his end-of-season news conference. «There was a lot of good stuff that they did and then a lot of things that we can all collectively improve upon.»
Snead said because of the expiring contracts, the Rams will «have to sit down and maybe stabilize it,» saying it will «be a position group that we’ll attack over the next few weeks and few months.»
The Rams have not really invested in the position since trading cornerback Jalen Ramsey in 2023.
Los Angeles will also have to make a decision about whether to pick up cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr.’s fifth-year option. The Rams claimed the 2023 first-round pick off waivers from the Washington Commanders in December 2024.
Two first-round draft picks
When the Rams traded back during the 2025 draft and acquired the Atlanta Falcons’ 2026 first-round pick, it seemed that it might line up for the Rams to use one or both of those picks to take their quarterback of the future. While that still could happen, it seems far more likely that the Rams will use those picks to upgrade the roster around Stafford.
Los Angeles has picks No. 13 (from Atlanta) and No. 29.
While the Rams could use those picks to take a player or players who might be able to help during their rookie seasons, it also provides them the draft capital to trade for a veteran player. The Rams have not been shy about adding veteran talent when going all-in, à la the «f— them picks» philosophy embraced during Stafford’s first season in Los Angeles and they could go that route as well.
Cornerback could be a spot where the Rams use one of these draft picks or trade a pick for a veteran difference-maker at the position.
WR3
This is an interesting position for the Rams, as the No. 3 receiver spot became less critical during the 2025 season as Los Angeles shifted away from 11 personnel (three receivers on the field). While the move was made in part because of injuries to wide receivers Tutu Atwell and Puka Nacua in the middle of the season, it was also one that proved to be effective and took advantage of their tight end room.
The Rams had signed Atwell to a one-year, $10 million contract in 2025, but he finished the season with six catches for 192 yards and a touchdown in 10 games.
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«Part of the thought process when we made that signing last year was that we were going to still be in a lot of the 11 personnel grouping,» McVay said. «You have him, Puka [Nacua], Davante [Adams] and then the complementary pieces. Unfortunately, he had some injuries. There were some different things that went on where the games continued to go when he missed the period of time. Then, we organically figured out this next iteration where we leaned into a lot of the 13 personnel, that naturally just takes receivers off the grass.»
Even if the Rams plan to use three tight ends on the field often next season, they will likely address the position behind Nacua and Davante Adams. Adams, entering his 13th NFL season, led the NFL with 14 receiving touchdowns, but missed time with a hamstring injury. Nacua, known for his physical play, also missed a full game and nearly two halves of games while dealing with injuries.
The Rams could also lean on their top pick in 2025 in the passing game, tight end Terrance Ferguson. McVay said earlier in the month that Ferguson has «the ability to basically play every skill position on our offense.»
Kick returner
Last season, the Rams’ weakness was their special teams unit. While it was their kicking and protection units that drew the most scrutiny, their return units didn’t rank well either.
The Rams averaged 25.1 yards per kickoff return, which ranked 24th. The Rams’ 9.3 yards per punt return ranked 18th.
The Rams saw up close just how important that part of the game was in their Week 16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. At the trade deadline, Seattle traded for wide receiver/returner Rashid Shaheed, who was named an AP first-team All-Pro kick returner in 2023.
In that game, Shaheed changed the game by returning a punt 58 yards for a touchdown, kick-starting a fourth-quarter comeback for Seattle that played a big role in the Seahawks being the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
The speedy Shaheed is a free agent.
