LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Rams aren’t just knocking on the door of another Super Bowl; they’re trying to kick it down. After a gut-wrenching 24-21 NFC Championship exit at the hands of Seattle, GM Les Snead has already turned the secondary into a fortress by acquiring All-Pro Trent McDuffie. But for Matthew Stafford’s 2026 campaign—potentially his final act—a lockdown defense isn’t enough. The Rams need to add a vertical burner to an offense that occasionally sputtered when the stakes were highest.
The Davante Adams Dilemma
On paper, the Rams’ 2025 passing attack was a juggernaut. Matthew Stafford aired it out for 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns, fueling an MVP-caliber season. Puka Nacua established himself as a legitimate WR1, while Davante Adams proved he was still a scoring machine with 14 touchdowns. However, the cracks in the armor started to show late in the year. Adams will turn 34 this season, and a nagging hamstring injury forced him to miss the final three games of the 2025 regular season. When the playoffs arrived, the lack of a true, healthy deep threat allowed defenses to bracket Nacua and take their chances underneath.
L.A. has the 13th overall pick in the upcoming draft, but this front office rarely waits for rookies to develop. They want a proven, explosive weapon now.
Targeting the Titans of the Turf
Two names are currently dominating the rumor mill in Thousand Oaks: AJ Brown and Brian Thomas Jr. While the Eagles have publicly played hardball regarding Brown, reports suggest the Rams have remained persistent. Brown is the physical archetype Sean McVay loves—a “monster” who can bully cornerbacks and create massive chunks of yardage after the catch. A duo of Nacua and Brown would give Stafford two of the most physical receivers in the league, effectively making the Rams’ offense impossible to man-handle.
The dark horse is Jacksonville’s Brian Thomas Jr. After a historic rookie season in 2024 where he recorded 1,282 yards and 10 scores, Thomas hit a sophomore slump in 2025 with just 707 yards. Much of that regression was due to a role shift in Trevor Lawrence’s offense. Putting Thomas in a McVay system, where he can fly down the seams while Nacua and Adams work the intermediate levels, could ignite a scoring explosion that the NFL hasn’t seen since the “Greatest Show on Turf” days.
“We aren’t here to just compete; we are here to win it all. If there is a player out there who gives us an edge and helps Matthew get back to the mountaintop, we are going to look at it. We don’t fear being aggressive.”— Les Snead, Rams General Manager
What’s Next for the Rams
The Rams currently hold roughly $27.4 million in cap space following the McDuffie extension. While a trade for a star like Brown would require further financial maneuvering—potentially involving a Davante Adams restructure or trade—the window is closing. Stafford is 38 years old. The defense is fixed. The only thing standing between the Rams and a parade down Figueroa Street is one more elite playmaker who can take the top off a defense.
Expect Snead to keep the phone lines to Philadelphia and Jacksonville busy as the draft approaches. If the price is a first-rounder, the Rams have proven time and again they will trade the future to win the present.
