After two years of transition, the Rams must prove that they’re ready to compete in 2025
A lot has changed since the Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl just over four years ago. They’ve gone from a disastrous ‘run it back’ attempt to a retool, and now will be looking to hoist that Lombardi Trophy once again.
Ever since the beginning of 2023 when the Rams opted to rip off the band-aid and clear the salary cap, this is a front office that has been building towards 2025. They traded important Super Bowl pieces such as Jalen Ramsey while releasing Leonard Floyd. Aaron Donald has since retired and the Rams also moved on from Cooper Kupp.
The pillars that were once the foundation of the Rams’ identity were replaced with newer models. Leonard Floyd was replaced with a high-floor player in Byron Young. While it took three top-100 picks, Aaron Donald’s production was replaced with Jared Verse, Kobie Turner, and Braden Fiske. Following two seasons in which he was one of the more efficient wide receivers in the NFL, the wide receiver room now belongs to Puka Nacua.
Over the past two seasons, this is a young Rams team that has gained valuable experience. While the playoff run and division title may have been unexpected, it wasn’t necessarily important for that version of the Rams.
This is now a team that knows what it’s like to go into a hostile playoff environment. They know what it takes to win a playoff game and the grind of a late-season schedule. It’s those losses and bitter tastes of defeat that will fuel them going forward. As Kobie Turner recently said in an interview about a rematch with the Philadelphia Eagles, “I’ve had that loss in the back of my mind for a while.”
For the first time since that 2021 season, this Rams team is ready.
In a sense, the Rams have been the ‘happy go lucky’ team in the playoffs since 2022. Nobody expected them to make the run that they did in 2023. Last season, they were still a team gaining much needed experience. In both instances, they still managed to come a play away from potentially making a deep playoff run.
There’s no doubt that the Rams were ahead of schedule in 2023 and it can be argued that 2024 was a setup year. This is the moment that the Rams have been building towards. This season was the end-goal for the reset. They were able to free up enough cap space to make a big spending move such as bringing in Davante Adams. Les Snead and the front office have done their work in the draft room and those young players have gained valuable experience. Nacua is no longer playing second fiddle in the wide receiver room while Jared Verse and Kobie Turner are the leaders of the defense.
The Rams have been building to take advantage of one more good season from quarterback Matthew Stafford. Next season, a new era potentially begins when the team has two first round picks in a strong quarterback class.
At 37 years old, Stafford isn’t going to get many more opportunities like this. He won’t play on many more teams that are built to compete for a championship. The 2025 season could be his last best chance at adding a second Super Bowl to his legacy.
It’s also worth noting that if Stafford is on the roster on the first day of the league year in 2026, the Rams owe him $40 million in addition to his $16 million base salary. The Rams could move on from him prior to that date and only take a $6.4 million cap hit.
This is no longer a team playing with house money. The Rams are ready to make some serious playoff noise and be a strong contender in the NFC. While the championship window has been slowly creeping back open over the past two seasons, it has swung wide open for the 2025 season. The Rams have been building for this moment and the time is now.