Three NFL teams made bets this offseason that could age badly in a hurry, and each one comes with a different kind of sticker shock.
The Los Angeles Rams swung hardest, landing Myles Garrett in a deal that pushed the conversation straight to the top shelf. They sent Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-rounder and a 2029 third-round selection to Cleveland for the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.
That’s a massive haul, especially when you factor in what the Rams gave up: a younger Pro Bowl pass-rusher in Verse, who made the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons and will not turn 26 until November. Garrett is 30, and Los Angeles is clearly wagering that the rest of Matthew Stafford’s window is worth emptying the tank for.
But this is not a move that gets judged by a playoff win or even a conference championship appearance. If Stafford doesn’t end the season with the Lombardi Trophy, this trade could look a lot better in Cleveland than it does in Los Angeles.
The Las Vegas Raiders also paid a premium, and this one bends the market in a way that’s hard to ignore. Tyler Linderbaum is an excellent center, but the Raiders gave him a three-year, $81 million contract with $60 million guaranteed and a $27 million average annual salary.
That’s $9 million more per year than the next-closest center, Kansas City Chiefs star Creed Humphrey, who averages $18 million. Las Vegas reset the market by 50%.
Sure, building around a young quarterback makes sense, especially after drafting Fernando Mendoza first overall. But paying a center like a franchise quarterback is another matter.
Even if Linderbaum plays at an All-Pro level, it may still be difficult to justify that number, because one center cannot fix an entire offense. If the Raiders are still stuck outside the playoff picture, this will look like a costly shortcut through a rebuild that still had miles to go.
Indianapolis, meanwhile, is taking its own leap of faith at quarterback, and the price tag is steep. The Colts signed Daniel Jones to a two-year, $88 million deal with more than $60 million in guarantees.
The contract averages $44 million per season and can climb to $100 million through incentives. That’s a lot of money for a player who has shown flashes, but not the kind of sustained success that usually comes with this level of commitment.
Jones played the best football of his career before tearing his Achilles in December, and the Colts seemed to decide that 13 encouraging games were enough. For comparison, Baker Mayfield averages approximately $33.3 million with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Mayfield isn’t Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, but he has taken both Cleveland and Tampa Bay to the playoffs, won a postseason game with each franchise and helped the Buccaneers reach consecutive playoff appearances in his first two seasons there. Jones has made the playoffs once in seven NFL seasons.
The Colts could have kept him on the transition tag and let him prove his 2025 play was real. Instead, they guaranteed more than Tampa Bay originally guaranteed Mayfield while Jones is still coming back from a torn Achilles.
Indianapolis is paying for the quarterback it hopes Jones has become. Tampa Bay is paying less for one who has already delivered multiple postseason trips.
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Rams May Already Regret Letting This Young O-Lineman Go
Last years roster cuts left the Rams making some familiar hard choices, and one of the quieter ones involved Willie Lampkin, an undrafted offensive lineman who had shown enough versatility to work at both center and guard. After an injury in the preseason, Los Angeles moved on from him, and he was quickly claimed off waivers by Philadelphia, a reminder that even the back end of an offensive line can turn into a race if a young blocker flashes anything usable.
The timing makes the decision look more interesting now, because the Rams are dealing with depth concerns up front, especially at center. Lampkin was the kind of developmental lineman who might not have solved everything, but he could have offered insurance in a spot where the room feels thinner than the team would prefer. Instead, he is elsewhere, and Los Angeles is left to wonder whether it gave up a useful piece before it had to. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Suddenly Have A Puka Nacua Problem They Can't Ignore
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Sean McVay said he was not sure of the extent of the issue after Nacua exited practice early, and the uncertainty only adds to the noise around the Rams' top pass-catching group. Nacua is already part of a separate situation that could affect availability, leaving Los Angeles with a bigger question than it expected to have this early in camp. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Are Still Making Les Sneads Roster Gamble Look Smart
The Rams have spent the last few seasons building their roster a little differently than the rest of the NFC West, and the latest look at how they allocate resources still makes Les Sneads approach look pretty sharp. They sit third in total roster investment behind Seattle and Arizona, but the money is spread in a way that reflects what the Rams have chosen to prioritize, with heavier spending at quarterback and tight end and a lighter footprint at linebacker, wide receiver and running back.
It is the kind of balance that has defined the Rams under Snead, who has never been shy about pushing resources toward areas he thinks matter most while living with thinner investment elsewhere. The catch, as always, is whether that formula keeps producing value when the margins get tighter, and whether Los Angeles can continue squeezing more out of less while operating with fewer draft picks than some of its division rivals. [Read more 🡒]