The last two times the Rams had an offseason as explosive as 2026, they were much worse teams the year before. Coming off of a 4-12 season in 2017, the Rams hired Sean McVay, signed Andrew Whitworth and Robert Woods, traded for Sammy Watkins, and drafted Cooper Kupp. And following a 10-6 season in 2021, L.A. traded for Matthew Stafford, and later added Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr..
This time around, the Rams were on the verge of reaching the Super Bowl, but L.A. hasn’t rested on their laurels.
As you certainly know, the Rams have traded for Trent McDuffie and Myles Garrett, and signed Jaylen Watson. In addition, L.A. is attempting to also plan for the future by drafting Ty Simpson. We don’t know how any of the Rams’ draft picks will do, including their day 2 and 3 picks, just as we didn’t know back then that Kupp would be better than Gerald Everett; or that in 2021, Ernest Jones would be so much better than Tutu Atwell.
We also can’t say if McDuffie and Garrett will be as good advertised.
They could be better. Or they could be worse.
But what about the feeling of those respective offseasons?
Strictly from a process, does it seem like the L.A. Rams had a better offseason this year compared to 2017–not including the hiring of Sean McVay back then? If we only focus on the player changes.
Does 2026 feel like it trumps 2017? What about 2021?
2017
The Chance to Overhaul
2017 has an unfair advantage over the other two examples because the Rams were so bad in 2016. They went 4-12, fired Jeff Fisher, and were ready for a reset. However, most teams don’t reset as well as L.A. did, not just by signing McVay, but also giving him a chance to work in lockstep with Snead for BIG changes.
Not just minor improvements.
The 2017 season brought Whitworth, Woods, John Sullivan, Nickell Robey-Coleman, and Connor Barwin. The Watkins trade felt even bigger, although that move didn’t work out as well.
L.A. also traded for EJ Gaines.
So 2017 has an advantage. Perhaps one that is insurmountable. But the Rams certainly tried.
2021
A single move rules them all
Trading Jared Goff and two firsts for Matthew Stafford was arguably the boldest trade for a quarterback in history at the time. Teams had always stuck to their guns with quarterbacks like Goff, especially when their contracts hadn’t kicked in yet.
So a single move to trade for Stafford could trump both 2017 and 2026.
2026
A lot of action
Garrett, McDuffie, and Watson. It’s unbelievable. But again, it’s almost unprecedented, given how close the Rams already were to being the best team in the NFL. Despite how powerful the 2017 and 2021 offseasons were, 2026 might be even better because the moves are on top of a team that’s already contending for the Super Bowl.
