In the biggest surprise so far in the 2026 NFL draft, the Rams have selected Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick.
That makes Simpson the heir apparent to Matthew Stafford, who has mused about retirement.
Simpson was widely regarded as the second-best quarterback in this draft, behind No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, but few expected Simpson to go off the board within the first half of the first round.
Rams General Manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay, however, are believers in Simpson and think he can develop into a franchise quarterback in McVay’s offense.
How much longer Stafford is the Rams’ starting quarterback remains to be seen, but now the Rams know who’s next. Simpson is the Rams’ pick tonight, and the Rams’ pick to be their quarterback of the future.
The Rams are leaving the door open for both Jimmy Garoppolo and the possibility of adding a rookie quarterback in the draft.
Garoppolo is considering retirement and McVay said at a press conference earlier this week that the team doesn’t want to press him for a decision about returning for a third season at this point. He reiterated that during an appearance on ESPN Los Angeles ahead of Thursday’s first round and also said that the team has done the necessary research to be in position to draft a quarterback if things break that way over the next three days.
“We do our work on all these positions,” McVay said. “Whether you’re saying it’s a [Fernando] Mendoza, it’s a Ty Simpson, it’s a [Garrett] Nussmeier, it’s Carson Beck, there are a lot of guys that are going to be good players in this draft and if we feel like it fits for us, you consider it. But we are still hopeful and optimistic that you give Jimmy his time, maybe he’ll have a change of heart. I think the best thing you can do — you never want to force somebody to do something. He’s earned the right to be able to walk away on his terms and it’s been an amazing career.”
Stetson Bennett is currently the only quarterback on the roster behind Matthew Stafford and Stafford’s not guaranteed to be playing beyond 2026, so adding a rookie quarterback would make sense whether Garoppolo wants to come back or not. Should that move come early in the draft, it might be an indication that the Rams don’t think there’s a high likelihood of that change of heart coming to pass.
The Rams reached the NFC Championship Game last season, head into this season as the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl, and should draft another good player tonight, when they own the 13th pick in the first round, thanks to a forward-thinking trade with the Falcons last year.
A year ago, the Rams traded their own first- and third-round picks to the Falcons for Atlanta’s second- and seventh-round picks, plus their 2026 first-round pick. The Falcons badly wanted pass rusher James Pearce, and they were willing to give up their 2026 first-round pick to go up and get him.
Rams General Manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay have earned the job security that makes it easy for them to think ahead when making trades. They didn’t need the instant gratification of adding a player in the first round in 2025, when they anticipated that with the Falcons’ first-round pick they’d have a chance to add an even better player in 2026.
While the Rams played the long game, Falcons GM Terry Fontenot and coach Raheem Morris knew they were on the hot seat. Knowing their 2025 job status was “win now or get fired,” they didn’t have time to worry about their 2026 first-round pick. Sure enough, Fontenot and Morris were both fired at the end of last season. The new regime in Atlanta has to rebuild without a first-round pick, while Pearce is not currently with the team as he faces legal charges stemming from alleged abuse of his ex-girlfriend.
The Rams are in much better shape. They traded away their own first-round pick for cornerback Trent McDuffie, but the Falcons’ first-round pick means they still have the ammunition to bolster their roster tonight. Maybe they’ll add a good player with the 13th pick, or maybe Snead will trade it for more picks or another player, but either way, the Super Bowl favorites should get better tonight.
The long-term thinking the Rams showed during last year’s draft is one of the reasons they’ve been able to consistently stay near the top of a league that is structured to promote parity.
Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua showed up for the start of the team’s voluntary offseason program on Monday. Coach Sean McVay said Tuesday that he expects Nacua to fully participate in the entire offseason program.
Nacua’s attorney, Levi McCathern, announced earlier this month that Nacua had checked himself into a holistic care rehab facility. A Los Angeles woman filed a lawsuit against Nacua, accusing him of biting her and making antisemitic remarks during an incident on New Year’s Eve.
“He’ll be a full participant,” McVay said in his predraft news conference, via Sarah Barshop of ESPN. “Great to be able to see him. Looks great. He’s doing really well.”
McVay and Nacua have had conversations, but the coach said he would keep those private.
“He and I have a great relationship and feel really good about kind of the direction that we’re going,” McVay said.
The Rams know that they will have Matthew Stafford as their starting quarterback. They don’t yet know who they will have as their backup quarterback.
Stetson Bennett is the only other quarterback on the roster for now.
Jimmy Garoppolo, Stafford’s backup the past two seasons, is contemplating retirement.
Rams coach Sean McVay made clear Tuesday that the team hopes Garoppolo will return for another season.
“You leave the door open,” McVay said, via Vinny Bonsignore of the California Post. “You don’t want to press. We want to be able to give him his time, and he knows where we stand.”
Garoppolo, 34, was a second-round pick of the Patriots in 2014. After a trade to the 49ers in 2017, he became the team’s starter and stayed in San Francisco until 2022.
He was with the Raiders in 2023.
Now, Garoppolo is contemplating a 13th season.
