WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – About a month removed from signing a one-year deal with the Rams in free agency, inside linebacker Nate Landmanquickly began to realize this was his NFL home.
"I think it really started with OTAs, that's when I first noted the biggest difference of just, my happiness, my wife's happiness," Landman said Monday. "Getting around the guys, creating relationships with the linebacker room, the rest of the defense, some of the offensive guys, and then just, as time goes on, shared experience, working out, those relationships start to grow and blossom, and then you see the work being put on the field and our potential and everything that's going down, the pieces that have been added to this team, it started really quick. And like I said, that's just the established culture that's been here. It's conducive for success and for people to come in and be their best selves."
The franchise ensured that authenticity and happiness would be a part of its long-term plans this past Saturday, signing him to a three-year contract extension.
"Just want to get on here and start it off by saying, thanks to (Rams Owner/Chairman) Mr. (E. Stanley) Kroenke, to (general manager) Les (Snead), (head coach) Sean (McVay) for this opportunity, believing in me, bringing me here. Great opportunity for my family," Landman said. "This is a life-changing moment. Glad to be a Ram."
Landman said the extension talks had been ongoing for a few weeks, but he mostly left it up to his representatives to handle those negotiations, choosing to take a hands-off approach so he could focus on his daily and weekly preparation.
"And if it was something that came to fruition, something that happened, then great. If it didn't, just happy to be focusing on whatever team we were playing that week," Landman said.
It was a mindset that served him well; prior to signing the extension, he led the NFL with four forced fumbles, and was tied for sixth in total tackles with 91.
Between his production, his leadership style, authentically being himself as someone who had no expectations about his role, and just wanting to fit in, he was quickly embraced by players and coaches.
"It means a lot," Landman said. "Talking to my wife and my parents, this is the happiest I've been and the most fun I've had playing football in my career, back from high school, college. This the pinnacle, and this is where I want to be. This is where I'm most happy. I love my teammates, I love my coaches, and you can tell that so many guys come here and thrive because of the culture that's set forth here. The belief from the coaches, from your teammates, the way we play off each other, the way we celebrate each other. It's just, it's something you can't explain. Unless you're around the building, you got to kind of feel it. And it's something that we're growing. And you can see that the results are starting to show it."
The moments after the news of the extension broke only reinforced that: Landman said he was sitting in the linebacker meeting room, and after it got out, the whole defense came in "and got pretty rowdy" in the room, which he said was a cool experience.
According to McVay, it wasn't a difficult decision – or one they took long to start discussing – given the way Landman embodies the team's values. McVay, Snead and chief operating officer Tony Pastoors were all on-hand as Landman signed the extension in-person at the team's facility last Saturday.
"It was pretty quickly that we realized, after a handful of games, and even just watching the way he handled the offseason, training camp, throughout the preseason, and then getting going into the regular season, you start to say, 'Man, this is a guy that really represents a lot of the things that we want to be about,'" McVay said. "His teammates love him, and he is a guy that we felt like, based on what his current contract was, we had interest in extending."
The last six months have been full of change for Landman, between signing with the Rams in the spring, getting married over the summer and now his extension. Landman expressed gratitude for everyone who has been a part of the process, and said that it "takes a village." Appropriately, members of that village were part of the celebration: His wife went to the facility to join him as he signed his extension on Saturday; Landman's parents came to town and they all went out to dinner after last night's game to celebrate.
When Landman picked the Rams in free agency, he did so because of the culture, proximity to home as a Northern California native, and not wanting to pass up the opportunity to play for McVay.
More than eight months later, the opportunity has been everything he could've hoped for.
"There's other guys that have been in my position as well that paved the way for me," said Landman, who first entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Colorado in 2022. "Feels good to see the fruits of that labor come to light, and that if you really put your head down, you grind and you play the game and you approach the game the right way, that good things can happen. And super grateful to this organization. It's also saying to this organization that they find guys that they believe in, and they'll develop and give you a shot, and that it's a place you can come and thrive, whatever your circumstance may be."
