Whether it’s a Kirk Cousins/Michael Penix Jr. situation or an Aaron Rodgers/Jordan Love situation, the Rams have a situation regarding their current and future quarterbacks.
And the current starter could be playing beyond the upcoming season.
Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Rams and Stafford are “deep in discussions” covering 2026 and beyond. The Rams believe there’s a “real chance” Stafford will play beyond the 2026 season.
On one hand, it’s obvious that there’s a “real chance” 2026 won’t be Stafford’s final season; there had been no prior indication that 2026 would be Stafford’s last year. But the presence of Ty Simpson makes the question more relevant. And the circumstances more awkward.
Simpson hasn’t played a lot of college football. That was one of the knocks on him. “Limited sample size.” And the sample size won’t grow much, if things go as planned in 2026.
That’s the source of the consternation as to the decision to draft Simpson. The best-case scenario for the Rams means Simpson gets no regular-season experience — unless the Rams are blowing teams out to the point at which the Rams empty the bench.
However it goes, the Rams have the reigning MVP. For perhaps the first time in NFL history, the team with the reigning MVP drafted his eventual replacement in round one. In lieu of getting someone who could help the Rams get past the Seahawks and get to the Super Bowl, they opted to make a pick for the future.
And, at this point, the future could be 2028. Or maybe even 2029.
It’s been a tumultuous offseason for Rams receiver Puka Nacua.
But after seeking some professional help, Nacua has been involved in Los Angeles’ offseason program. In a radio interview with ESPN Los Angeles on Friday, G.M. Les Snead provided a positive update on the young wideout.
“You know what, Puka’s doing really, really well. It’s really, really cool to see,” Snead said. “We’re in a profession where, hey, young men are probably … people that are carrying the most responsibility, right? They’re players on the field and they have the most responsibility for an organization. So, where a lot places, the people in your organization who are carrying the weight-bearing load are often older, more experienced, a little wiser. So, the neat thing in this business is to be there when someone does have a hiccup, someone does stumble, and to go, you know what, been there, done that, we can get off the mat, we can apply some lessons, we can get better and see them become. I always say, they’re young men becoming men. And I’m 55 years old and I’m still becoming. And I’m not sure I’ll ever get there, but we’re always striving to do it.
“I’d say, one of the more fulfilling things about being in sports, is dealing with a subset of people that are still getting there. … But to see people like Puka grow, it’s a fulfilling — it’s one of the reasons, if not the main reason, you do it. It’s definitely one of the reasons that makes this more fulfilling than anything.”
Nacua, who turns 25 at the end of May, led the league with 129 catches and 107.2 yards per game in 2025. Now that he’s through the third year of his rookie deal, he is extension eligible and it stands to reason that Los Angeles would like to get him signed to a second contract in the next couple of months.
After the Rams selected quarterback Ty Simpson at No. 13 overall on Thursday night, head coach Sean McVay was noticeably subdued during his press conference with General Manager Les Snead.
Whatever the reason for it, McVay’s reaction was enough to get Snead asked about it — and the reaction of reigning MVP Matthew Stafford — during a Friday radio interview with ESPN Los Angeles.
“I think Sean had a chat with Matthew before last night. And that’s one thing that Matthew’s definitely earned,” Snead told The Sedano and Cap Morning Show. “It’s one of the things that we’re working together to go through it. Matthew is on his way to, I would say this, a Hall of Fame career, right? And he still has gas left in the tank. And big picture, our vision’s always been, hey, let’s make the most of this time with Matthew and his teammates — let’s chase special together, however long that may [last]. I mentioned at the beginning of the segment, there’s no timeline on this. The longer, the better. Matthew just came off an MVP season, so if he continues playing, it’s like, this is better for everyone involved. ‘
“And I think at the end of the day, Sean and I are going to always work together in these types of decisions. ... But there was a lot that was going on into maneuvering that draft. So, we’re in lockstep. We work together. We’re collaborative. It’s him and I partnering to try to do the best for the Rams.”
The Rams currently have six selections remaining in the 2026 draft, including No. 61 overall in the second round and No. 93 overall in the third round on Friday night.
The Rams threw everyone a curveball by making quarterback Ty Simpson the 13th overall pick in the draft. Then came another one.
During the post-selection press conference featuring G.M. Les Snead and coach Sean McVay, McVay seemed to break character.
McVay almost always effuses positivity, about everything. Rarely does he deviate from projecting that vibe. It happened after the Thursday night loss to the Seahawks, which featured the kooky two-point conversion that tied the game in the fourth quarter. Eighteen weeks later, it seemed to happen again.
McVay kept quiet. Most of his answers were short. He plunged his hands in his pockets while Snead explained the reasoning for picking Simpson. As to the question of what it was about Simpson that made him the choice, it was Snead not McVay who provided the response.
“I think that at the end of the day, probably processing football, someone who can execute a passing offense,” Snead said. “He has mobility. So that’s probably the macro. There are a lot more variables that go into it, but that’s the macro I would say.”
McVay didn’t add anything to Snead’s response about the macro, or the micro.
Later, McVay said this about the arrival of Simpson: “We’ve talked about the importance of Jimmy [Garoppolo]. To be able to add somebody that you can evaluate a body of work where he was asked to play the position and a lot of things that do translate in terms of concepts, reading with his feet, some of the different things in the drop back in the play-action game and the movement game. There are a lot of things that [Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan] Grubb did that’s very similar to how we operate so it made it an easier evaluation to be able to say, ‘Alright, what would that look like if he did translate it to our level?’”
Still, McVay didn’t seem to be enthused. Perhaps it was a next-level effort to underscore the notion that Simpson wasn’t drafted as a way to kick Stafford to the curb, like the Packers did when picking Jordan Love during the latter years of Aaron Rodgers’s tenure in Green Bay.
"[L]et’s make one thing clear, this is Matthew’s team,” McVay said.
If McVay wasn’t simply playing quasi-bad cop as part of a strategy to underscore Stafford’s status, it’s a very strange outcome. McVay is one of the best quarterback coaches in the league. Why would the Rams pick Simpson if McVay wasn’t all-in with the approach? McVay has accomplished enough in ten years with the Rams to have veto power when it comes to such an important selection at the position in which he specializes.
Maybe the Rams had grown weary with the year-to-year uncertainty surrounding Stafford. Still, if/when Stafford retires, the Rams would be a very attractive destination for any and all available free agents. With Stafford committed for 2026 (they still need to work out a contract), they can worry about whether Stafford will play next year after this year.
The internal argument to roll the dice on Simpson may have been that the 13th selection was a bonus pick, thanks to the trade with the Falcons that gave them Atlanta’s 2026 first-round pick.
“There were a lot of players that we liked and there was a lot of thought that went into it,” McVay said. “We do feel really fortunate that when you look at the 13th pick, we were able to get that where Atlanta had an interest in getting a player last year. We would’ve taken [Terrance] Ferguson with our first-round pick last year. To move back and to still get the guy that we wanted, and then to basically be able to get an extra pick and then, oh by the way, with your original one, go get a player like [cornerback] Trent McDuffie.”
McVay possibly thinks they could have done the same thing with Simpson. Trade down and get Simpson later. While it would have been a calculated risk, 13 was on the high side for Simpson. Taking him that high makes it even harder to sell the idea that Simpson wasn’t drafted with an eye toward Simpson taking over, like when the Falcons made Michael Penix Jr. the eighth overall pick only six weeks after signing Kirk Cousins.
"[W]e’re always going to make decisions that we think are best for the short and the long term,” McVay said. “We will be excited to be able to get to work with [Simpson]. That’s where we’re at.”
Here’s where they’re at now. When Snead and McVay speak tonight, McVay will be asked about his demeanor from Thursday night. The good news is that he has all day to come up with a persuasive answer.
Still, he’ll need to sell it a little better than he sold it after the Simpson pick was made.
The Rams picking quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick in the draft came as a surprise to everyone, including Simpson, who didn’t hear from Rams coach Sean McVay or General Manager Les Snead at any point in the pre-draft process.
Simpson said that other than meeting some Rams scouts who came to Alabama’s Pro Day, he was in the dark about the Rams’ interest.
“It was really brief,” Simpson said of his interactions with the Rams. “I met with some scouts at Bama and that was really it. They talked to my agent but it was really not much.”
Simpson didn’t visit the Rams and said playing in the Rose Bowl is the only time he’s been to Los Angeles. Simpson’s father is the head football coach at UT-Martin and has been in touch with Snead, but Simpson said he personally hasn’t met Snead or McVay.
“This was my first time talking to Les, tonight,” Simpson said. “This was my first contact.”
At the Rams’ press conference after picking Simpson, McVay looked rather unenthused, leading to speculation that McVay wanted Snead to pick a player who could help Stafford win another Super Bowl, not Stafford’s heir apparent. McVay also said only that Simpson would get a chance to compete with Stetson Bennett for the backup job.
But while it’s fair to question whether McVay and Stafford are happy to have Simpson, Simpson says he’s very happy to work with them.
“I haven’t talked to Matthew yet but I’m super pumped to be in the room with him and learn from him,” Simpson said. “He’s one of the greatest of all time. We watched his film all the time when I was with Bama, the stuff he did, the stuff the Rams did with Coach McVay, so the fact that I can soak up all that knowledge, I couldn’t ask for a better situation.”
