The Los Angeles Rams are set to pay their offense $201 million in 2026, $17 million more than second place and $41 million more than the most expensive offense of 2025. Ranking first in quarterback salary cap hit, led by Matthew Stafford as the NFL’s most expensive quarterback this year at $48 million, L.A. has the most expensive offense in history even before extending Puka Nacua.
Having concentrated so much of their offseason on upgrading their defense with the acquisitions of Myles Garrett, Trent
McDuffie, and Jaylen Watson, the Rams will have even more pressure on their offense to live up to expectations as the most expensive offense we’ve ever seen.
Rams most expensive players
The biggest cap hits on L.A.‘s offense belong to these players:
- Stafford, $48 million
- Davante Adams, $28 million
- A.J. Jackson, $25 million
- Kevin Dotson, $17 million
- Kyren Williams, $13 million
- Coleman Shelton, $9.5 million
- Colby Parkinson, $9 million
- Puka Nacua, $5.8 million
- Tyler Higbee $5 million
This is after the Rams’ latest deal with Stafford.
The Rams are especially up a creek with Jackson, the second-most expensive left tackle of 2026, as he is facing a probable suspension of at least six games.
Williams is the third most-expensive running back. Adams is the fourth most-expensive receiver. Shelton is the fourth most-expensive center.
L.A. has been spending like crazy to build an offense that ranked first last season—the only team that was able to consistently impose its will against the Seattle Seahawks defense—but nobody can deny that some of those salary position rankings feel inconsistent with their value. Will Adams be a top-five receiver? Will Shelton be a top-five center? Will Jackson even play enough games?
How Rams can save money
The Rams have already worked through Stafford’s contract, and Sean McVay said the team has not had talks with Adams about restructuring his deal.
Adams is in the final season of the two-year pact he signed in 2025, but void years would allow the team to restructure his contract and push $11 million of cap into 2027. McVay may not want to use a credit card to push what the team owes Adams into next season.
One reason for that?
The Rams have four starting offensive linemen set to become free agents, with the lone exception being Jackson. L.A. will need space to re-sign at least some of those players, perhaps prioritizing Steve Avila and Kevin Dotson.
The Rams have the seventh most-expensive line of 2026, but the third cheapest in 2027 because almost everyone is a free agent. Les Snead could look to extend Dotson now, but it wouldn’t necessarily make him any cheaper this year because he’s going to demand a big signing bonus.
Jackson was really the simplest option to restructure prior to his recent arrest. Now that option is gone.
Cutting, trading, or extending Colby Parkinson is another option, but he was the team’s best tight end last year.
Ultimately, the Rams may not save much of any money on offense this year, instead relying on how inexpensive some of their stars on defense are:
Myles Garrett only carries an $8 million cap hit, making him one of the best bargains in the NFL.
When will Puka be extended?
As things stand, Puka Nacua is set to make $5.8 million. An extension would likely be over $40 million per season, and wouldn’t start to cost the team much cap space in the next few seasons. That comes later.
Even so, Puka is so inexpensive now that any extension would raise his cap hit in 2026. The Rams do have about $18 million in cap space, according to OvertheCap, so it should be doable. And when it happens, the Rams could break their own record as the most expensive offense in history.
