Snead: 'Drives me nuts' when people say Rams are all-in for 2018

Les Snead: ‘Drives me nuts’ when people say Rams are all-in for 2018

Cameron DaSilva

Les Snead: 'Drives me nuts' when people say Rams are all-in for 2018

Building franchises in the NFL takes time. It’s difficult to go from the bottom of the scrap heap to Super Bowl contenders in one year, but in order to do so, it takes an aggressive approach from the front office.

Les Snead and the Los Angeles Rams have shown that the past two years, making a number of eye-popping trades and signings to bolster a roster that had a strong core to begin with. Everything about their approach to this past offseason said they were all-in for 2018, aiming to win a Super Bowl after going 11-5 last year.

From acquiring Brandin Cooks to signing Ndamukong Suh to now trading for Dante Fowler Jr., it’s easy to see why many people would think the Rams are pushing all their chips to the middle of the table this season. Just don’t tell Snead that.

“It drives me nuts when people say that you’re going all in to win the Super Bowl this season,” Snead told Steve Wyche of NFL.com. “You’re going all in to maybe give you a millimeter, centimeter, an upper hand.

“Building through the draft leads to sustainability. You’ve also been able to watch what a team like New England’s done. They’ve used draft picks, but they’ve also used picks to make trades. They’ve used free agency. Your whole goal is to acquire players that are going to help Sean McVay and his staff execute in any way possible.”

Despite making short-term moves like signing Suh and acquiring Fowler, who will be a free agent at season’s end, the Rams are certainly looking toward the future. They locked up Cooks, Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald and Rob Havenstein this year, while also ridding themselves of large contracts like Alec Ogletree’s and Robert Quinn’s.

Jared Goff will get his long-term extension in the next year or two, as well, keeping the nucleus of this team together for the foreseeable future. There’s no doubt their moves this offseason have been aggressive and aimed toward winning now, but they weren’t made with a blind eye to the future.

“This isn’t just for 2018,” Snead said. “We don’t want to be 2018 and it’s over. What’s going on, it’s microscopic — and telescopic.”

Winning a Super Bowl this year would be nice, but this is a team built for the long haul