Rams general manager Les Snead fielded questions for nearly 40 minutes during a video conference with reporters Wednesday afternoon, covering Matthew Stafford's status and how that would influence the team's approach to 2026, addressing the cornerback position, and the 2023 draft class being eligible for extensions this offseason, among other topics.
More on those top takeaways below.
Aggressive approach likely if Stafford returns
Snead echoed McVay's sentiments from Monday about giving Stafford the time and space to both process last season and make a decision about his future, though Snead also said his hope is that decision is choice is made sooner than later compared to last year, when Stafford and the team agreed to terms on a contract restructure on February 28 to solidify his status for the 2025 season.
If Stafford returns, Snead indicated the Rams would maximize that time with the 38-year-old quarterback who is coming off an MVP-caliber season.
"If Matthew decides to come back… and I don't know how much it weighs and how you balance each because we definitely think about there is a vision to have sustained success over time. There's a balance there," Snead said. "If Matthew decides to come back, I do think there'll be an element where whether it's 51-49, whether it's 52-48, whether it's 60-40, let's definitely make the most of the time we have with Matthew because as we just discussed, 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."
Potential timeline for extension-eligible 2023 draft picks
Asked about players like wide receiver Puka Nacua, offensive lineman Steve Avila, defensive end Kobie Turner and outside linebacker Byron Young – who become extension-eligible this offseason – Snead indicated the Rams would tackle expiring contracts first before addressing extension candidates.
The Rams have 16 impending unrestricted free agents.
"We'll be in conversations," Snead said. "We'll have some macro level thoughts on how we want to go forward. I do think we naturally will tackle players whose contracts are expiring first. Then at that point in time, either try to bring them back or either communicate with them that it might be time to try different chapters. With that being said, you go through the draft. Through the whole process with those type of players, we're well aware that we have another year with them. We're well aware that they're very good players and we'd like to continue riding with those players into the future. Then we begin working through that with all of them."
Cornerback position will be addressed this offseason, in part because of multiple expiring contracts
Speaking of impending unrestricted free agents, three of those 16 are in the cornerback room between Cobie Durant, Ahkello Witherspoon and Roger McCreary; Durant and Witherspoon played extensively on the outside as part of that rotation.
"I think that's a group because of the contracts expiring even…again, how many years they've been in the league is definitely something we have to sit down and maybe stabilize it more from a standpoint of getting the right people in under the right contracts and things like that based on how many guys are up or voiding and things like that," Snead said. "It'll be a position group that we'll attack over the next few weeks and few months."
