The Los Angeles Rams have made their intentions plain this offseason: they are pushing chips to the middle of the table for 2026.
That’s the only way to read a team that has spent future draft capital on players like Trent McDuffie and then made the biggest splash of the offseason by landing Myles Garrett. The message is loud and simple. The Rams are not trying to split the difference anymore.
For the last two years, they’ve lived with one eye on Matthew Stafford and the other on what comes next. That’s why they drafted Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick, keeping the post-Stafford picture in view even while the present remained very much in play.
This is a different kind of all-in than the one that usually gets tossed around in sports. The Brooklyn Nets are the easy comparison, whether you’re talking about Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden or, going back further, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry in the blockbuster deal with the Boston Celtics. Those bets blew up fast.
The Rams have spent the years since their 2021 title trying to avoid that kind of crash. They’ve done a better job of it than most teams would in the same spot, missing the postseason only once after winning it all.
Even then, the Rams weren’t always operating with the same kind of pressure that hangs over them now. When they reached the postseason in 2023, they were ahead of schedule and simply getting there was a win.
In 2024, they were competitive again while still retooling and giving young players real reps. You could make the case they left something on the table last season with Stafford playing at an MVP level, but they were also a team that came a handful of plays from the Super Bowl.
Now the standard has changed.
As the Rams head into 2026, this is the heaviest expectation load they’ve carried since 2021, when Stafford and company rose to the moment and became the second team to win a Super Bowl on its home field. The difference is that a large chunk of this roster hasn’t lived under that kind of pressure before.
Sports Illustrated’s Gilbert Manzano laid out the stakes this way:
“They have top-five players at a handful of positions, and the most brilliant football mind is controlling the operation,” said Manzano. “Anything other than a Super Bowl would definitely be a failure for McVay’s team, even though he attempted to downplay the expectations during Garrett’s introductory news conference in June.
On paper, L.A. has the best roster in recent memory. Now, it’s on the Rams to do what the Patriots couldn’t in 2007-win the Super Bowl with a giant target on their backs.”
That’s a sharp line, and it gets at the pressure surrounding this roster. But there’s also a difference between saying the Rams are built to chase a championship and saying anything short of one is a disaster.
Winning a Super Bowl is the goal, no question. Teams don’t make moves like this unless that’s the point. But the league doesn’t hand out titles on paper, and the Rams know better than most how many things have to break the right way.
Their 2021 run was proof of that. In the Divisional Round, they blew a big lead before Stafford found Cooper Kupp against the right coverage to set up the winning field goal.
In the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers, Stafford nearly threw an interception that could have killed the comeback. In the Super Bowl, Jalen Ramsey slipped and left Ja’Marr Chase wide open, but Aaron Donald got to Joe Burrow before he could take advantage.
The right plays happened, but they had to happen in the right sequence. That’s the part people forget.
Last season offered the same kind of reminder. One missed two-point conversion by the Seahawks in their comeback win could have changed the picture. Home-field advantage in the playoffs might have changed it too.
So yes, the Rams are aiming at the Super Bowl in 2026. But if they fall short, that doesn’t automatically make the season a failure. The NFC is crowded, with the defending champions and teams like the Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions both trying to get back into contender territory.
At the same time, there is a line here. Winning the division and getting back to the NFC Championship Game should be the baseline.
Anything less than that, or a poor showing in the conference title game, would count as a miss. If the Rams reach the Super Bowl or come up just short again in the NFC Championship, that’s a lot harder to label a failure.
The Rams have earned the target on their backs. They had it in 2021 after trading for Stafford, and they have it again now after all the offseason maneuvering.
They’ve put themselves in position for another run. The rest comes down to the small moments, the ones that decide whether a season ends with a parade or with questions.
In Other News...
Stetson Bennett Faces Defining Rams Camp With Backup Job Pressure
Training camp is about to put the Rams backup quarterback picture under the microscope, with Stetson Bennett and Ty Simpson both trying to carve out a clear role behind Matthew Stafford. The two have reportedly looked similar through OTAs, and the team is expecting growth from both as the competition shifts into a more revealing setting.
Bennett, entering his fourth year, has a little more urgency attached to this summer because his contract situation is moving toward a decision point after the season. The Rams are also weighing what kind of value he really has in the long run, which makes camp more than just a depth chart battle and gives Bennett a chance to strengthen his case before the team has to decide how seriously it wants to invest in him. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Finally Have Their Secondary Security Blanket Back
The Rams have spent the past couple of seasons trying to rebuild the kind of stability they once had on the back end, and adding Trent McDuffie gives them a very different look in the cornerback room. Pairing him with Jaylen Watson gives Los Angeles a more flexible foundation, and McDuffies ability to line up outside or move around the field should give Chris Shula more ways to shape the defense week to week.
What makes this addition especially notable is the way McDuffie has already established himself as more than just another coverage body. His versatility and performance metrics point to a player who can change the feel of a secondary, and for a Rams defense that has been searching for a true anchor at corner, that matters. The bigger question now is how quickly Los Angeles can turn that upgrade into something that shows up on Sundays. [Read more 🡒]
Broncos Finally Have An O Line Question Fans Want Answered
The guard market keeps getting more expensive, and that makes the Rams interior worth a closer look. Steve Avila and Kevin Dotson have given Los Angeles one of the leagues most stable combinations inside, the kind of pairing that matters more every time another team pays up to protect the middle of its line. Avila settled in at guard and held up well, while Dotson has continued to look like the sort of veteran starter who can anchor a playoff-caliber front.
For a team built to contend, that kind of continuity is a real edge, and it helps explain why the Rams are being mentioned with the NFLs best guard tandems heading into 2026. The question now is how long that setup lasts, because Dotsons next contract situation is already looming and the market for guards keeps rising. If Los Angeles wants to keep its interior strength intact, it may have to make a decision sooner rather than later. [Read more 🡒]