Rams Are at the Crossroads

by Bo Marchionte
@bomarchionte | College2Pro.com
Published May 21, 2026, 8:49 PM 

Take Aways from Rams extension of Matthew Stafford

• The Los Angeles Rams didn’t draft Ty Simpson at No. 13 to panic over Matthew Stafford’s age they drafted him because succession plans matter before the cliff arrives.
• Matthew Stafford is still playing elite football after a 4,707-yard, 46-touchdown MVP season, making the extension the logical move.
• Ty Simpson enters one of the NFL’s best developmental situations instead of being thrown into chaos as a rookie savior.
• The Rams may eventually face the same crossroads the Minnesota Vikings did when they moved from Sam Darnold to J.J. McCarthy.
• The danger in drafting the “future” too early is discovering the present still gives you a better chance to win championships.

Rams Betting on the Present While Preparing for the Future

Something quietly fascinating happened during the first night of the NFL Draft.

While much of the football world focused Fernando Mendoza, Jeremiyah Love and the bounty of Ohio State prospects going off in round one the Los Angeles Rams pulled off one of the league’s more calculated moves.

They selected quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick while fully understanding they still possessed one of the best quarterbacks in football.

That quarterback just happens to be reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford.

The Rams announced the deal Thursday and ESPN reported the 2027 deal is worth $55 million, a raise from his salary for the upcoming season that could reach $60 million with incentives.

On the surface, it felt contradictory. Why invest premium draft capital into a quarterback if Stafford still looks capable of chasing another Super Bowl? But that is exactly what smart organizations attempt to balance. They try to survive two timelines at once.

The first timeline is obvious – Win now.

Stafford is not hanging on by reputation alone. He is still operating at a championship level, throwing for 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns while reminding the league that elite quarterback play does not suddenly disappear because a birth certificate changes. The Rams rewarded that production with a new one-year extension because there was no logical football reason not to.

The second timeline is more difficult.

Sean McVay and the Rams understand what eventually comes for every franchise quarterback. The decline may not arrive today. It may not even arrive next season. But when it does hit, organizations that ignored succession planning often collapse into years of irrelevance searching for answers.

That is where Simpson enters the equation.

The rookie is not being asked to rescue the franchise. He is not walking into a rebuilding roster or being handed the pressure of carrying a broken offense. Instead, he gets to sit behind a veteran who has seen every coverage imaginable, won a Super Bowl and now has another MVP trophy sitting on the shelf.

Quarterbacks drafted into stability historically have a far better chance of surviving the transition to the NFL than prospects forced into immediate chaos. Simpson can learn protections, timing, route concepts and the mental strain of the position without the weekly pressure of saving Sundays.

Still, the Rams may eventually face an uncomfortable question.

What happens if Stafford refuses to slow down?

That dilemma already unfolded in Minnesota. The Minnesota Vikings believed J.J. McCarthy represented the future while Sam Darnold unexpectedly elevated his game and ultimately walked away with a Super Bowl ring elsewhere. Now the Vikings are once again searching for stability, reportedly hoping Kyler Murray becomes the next answer.

That is the danger of projecting too far ahead at quarterback. Sometimes the veteran still gives you the best chance to win long after the organization starts preparing for the next chapter.

The Rams are trying to thread that needle carefully.

For now, Stafford remains the engine. Simpson is simply the insurance policy sitting quietly in the passenger seat, absorbing everything possible while one of the league’s best continues driving toward another Lombardi Trophy.

Photo Credit Frank Hyatt/College2Pro.com