The Los Angeles Rams seemed to have an awesome offseason by adding Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, Myles Garrett and drawing Aaron Donald out of retirement, but now with the power of hindsight, should the Rams have made more of a push for Mike Evans?
The Rams could’ve avoided Jaylen Watson, added Mike Evans
Evans and Watson both signed deals with their new respective NFC West teams before the start of the 2026 season.
Watson signed his three-year deal $51 million, and he’s been solid for the Rams, but he missed Week 4, and hasn’t been as dominant for the Rams as Evans
has been for the 49ers.
Evans signed a three-year $42 million deal, and has looked as great as he ever has with 24 catches, 300+ receiving yards and three touchdowns to go along with 5 wins. He’s been everything the 49ers could’ve hoped for and more.
The Rams added Watson, while Evans ended up on the 49ers
In defense of the Rams, they already had Puka Nacua and Davante Adams for 2026, and it was their defensive unit that they chose to retool over their offensive one. This made sense given the offense retained the bulk of its stars.
But with hindsight, perhaps Sean McVay and Les Snead should’ve considered adding Evans and unleashing what could’ve been a top offense with the depth to handle missing either Nacua or Adams with Evans in the fold.
Of course, Adams has been tremendous so far for L.A., but wouldn’t the Rams be better with Evans also in the mix? It’s a fair question.
The Rams weren’t wrong adding Watson
The Rams weren’t wrong adding Watson. No one should be saying that in the first year of his deal, but one can wonder if Evans would be doing more for the Rams and their ability to win football games than Watson?
It’s fair to wonder with the power of hindsight if the Rams let one of the biggest free agent weapons of 2026 go to their division rival. And now it’s fair to wonder if Evans will be helping the 49ers win the NFC West, while the Rams fight for a playoff spot.
Of course, in a few weeks we could be saying that Watson was absolutely the right move for L.A. Perhaps Evans never wanted to go to L.A. We’re speculating here.
Call it hindsight, call it preference and or perception, but one could argue the Rams should’ve made more a push for Evans over Watson in 2026, whether that’s actually true or not.
One could argue the Rams should’ve ignored Donald wanting to come out of retirement, and instead used his guaranteed money to try and lure Evans.
It’s all fair speculation.
What’s not speculation is the 49ers are 5-0 since signing Evans. The Rams are 2-2 since all their offseason signings. L.A. will look to rise to 3-2 on Monday Football against the Buffalo Bills or fall to 2-3.
Evans and the 49ers will be watching.
