Rams tweets etc. … 4/5 – 4/11

from NFL execs unfiltered on free agency… all NFC teams

Mike Sando

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7165454/2026/04/02/nfl-roster-rule-changes-2026/?source=athletic_weeklyemail&campaign=602288&userId=603890

Talking through the AFC teams’ free agencies with NFL executives was so much fun that we’re back with a run through the NFC. And what a run it turned out to be.

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Los Angeles Rams

Added: $50.2M (11th) | Lost: $5.4M (32nd) | Differential: $44.8M (4th)

Acquiring former Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie for picks in the first, fifth and sixth rounds this year, plus a third-rounder in 2027, showed how serious the Rams were about fixing a fatal flaw at the position.

“I don’t mind it,” an exec said. “If you still think you are in the window and you have Matt Stafford coming back, you have to do everything you can to try to win it one more time. They still have a first-round pick.”

McDuffie’s addition was only part of the story. Signing him for $31 million per year, the highest figure among cornerbacks, was the exclamation point.

“I know they paid McDuffie a ton of money. But those teams that embrace where the cap is going and can adjust to the percentages instead of the sticker shock are ahead of the game,” another exec said. “They realize that $30 million is going to be (more palatable) down the line because other guys will get paid.”

One exec joked he had a hard time picturing coach Sean McVay waiting to see what player might be available to him in the 29th slot.

“They probably didn’t see much value in the first-rounder they had and said f— it, if we can get this guy (McDuffie), let’s just get him,” another exec said.

Adding McDuffie’s former Kansas City teammate, cornerback Jaylen Watson, in free agency felt like an attempt to replicate in the secondary what worked well for the Rams atop the 2024 draft. That’s when they selected Florida State teammates Jared Verse and Braden Fiske in the first two rounds.

“Corner is a position where even for the top guys, it’s hard to be consistent year over year,” another exec said, “but I do like how they were aggressive. Their biggest need by far was to get more size, more competitive in the secondary. You are pairing McDuffie with Watson so they can come in together, communicate well together, have that rapport.”

The Rams traded their own first-round pick, No. 29, to Kansas City while holding onto the 13th pick, which they acquired from Atlanta to drop from 26th to 46th in the 2025 draft. The Rams could have drafted a corner at No. 26 last year, but Maxwell Hairston, who picked off two passes for Buffalo as the 30th pick in 2025, was the only corner selected between the 20th and 47th choices.

“They put their chips to the middle of the table,” another exec said. “They have not extended any of their young core. It’s going to be very interesting what happens there if it doesn’t work.”