It’s the five-year anniversary of the first championship the Rams have won while based in L.A. During the 2026 season, they’ll be commemorating the Super Bowl win by giving their fans a special gift.
The Rams announced on Thursday that the first 60,000 who enter SoFi Stadium for the Week 6 game against the Cardinals will receive a “limited-edition replica Championship ring with a special feature!”
The Cardinals game was likely hand-picked for one important reason — it’s the 2026 Rams home game that is likely to have the highest concentration of Rams fans.
It’s been one of the basic realities of returning to the market the Rams (and Raiders) abandoned for 20 years. A full generation of Angelenos came of age with no geographic connection to any NFL team. They were able to pick whichever team they wanted to follow.
Now, when those teams come to town, the local fans of that team are just as likely to show up for the game as the Rams fans are.
Enter the Cardinals. Of the eight teams that will play the Rams at SoFi Stadium this season (Giants, Bills, Cardinals, Chargers, Packers, Chiefs, Cowboys, and Seahawks), the Arizona game will be the one at which the fewest fans of the other team will show up.
It helps that the Cardinals aren’t expected to be very good. Even if they somehow run the table for the first five weeks (Chargers, Seahawks, 49ers, Giants, Lions), it’s unlikely that Cardinals fans will overrun the building the way that, say, 49ers fans do.
So, yes, if the goal is to ensure that the replica Rams rings end up on the fingers of Rams fans, Week 6 was the best occasion for the giveaway.
Rams Clips
No criminal charges have been filed against Rams offensive lineman Alaric Jackson, more than a month after he was arrested and accused of felony domestic battery.
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office told NBC Los Angeles that it does not have a criminal case filed against Jackson. The case is not closed and could be re-evaluated in the future, Jackson may be able to avoid facing charges by taking other actions such as attending a pre-trial diversion class, paying restitution or performing community service.
Jackson was arrested on June 8 after police were called to his home over a call saying Jackson and a woman had an argument, Jackson thought the woman was recording him with her phone and allegedly tried to take the phone out of her hand. Police said the woman had scratch marks on her arms. The woman reportedly reminded Jackson during the altercation that she was pregnant, to which Jackson replied, “I don’t give a fuck.”
Even if Jackson never faces criminal charges, it’s possible he could be disciplined under the NFL’s personal-conduct policy, depending on the outcome of the league’s own investigation.
In 2024, the NFL suspended Jackson two games as a result of a woman reporting that Jackson recorded her during sex without consent, refused to delete the video and taunted her with it. The woman filed a lawsuit against Jackson in November.
Last year the Rams signed Jackson to a three-year, $57 million contract extension. Jackson started 16 regular-season games and all three postseason games for the Rams last season.
The plan for Rams quarterback Ty Simpson is to spend his rookie season standing on the sideline and observing Matthew Stafford. But when the time comes for Simpson to take the field, Rams coach Sean McVay wants Simpson to be a commanding presence.
McVay said he wants Simpson working on the way he communicates with his teammates, including practicing in the mirror what he’ll say in the huddle.
“What does it look like to be able to communicate, especially as a quarterback?” McVay said, via Sarah Barshop of ESPN. “How am I saying the plays? . . . You have to see plays when you’re saying them, otherwise you can’t call plays in this offense. . . . Practicing in the mirror, what does your voice inflection look like? How are you emphasizing certain things? How are you really being able to go through the mechanics of everything that happens before the snap? And then what’s my footwork? What’s my timing and rhythm?”
If Simpson actually has to take the field in an important situation in a real game this season, it will likely be a situation when the other 10 Rams are concerned that an injury to Stafford is going to derail their season. McVay knows that Simpson is going to have to work on being able to instill confidence in his teammates.
The NFL is making a significant change to the offseason calendar for the 2027 season.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the free agent negotiating window will open on March 9 next year. That is the same date that the two-day window opened this year, but the change comes in how close it will be to the end of the Scouting Combine.
NFL teams will wrap up their examinations and interrogations of incoming prospects on March 8 in 2027, which moves the league away from having a week or so between the two events as they have in past years.
Under that setup, the Combine has always been rife with table-setting for free agency as agents and team executives are all in the same place with their minds on the same things. With that gap eliminated, there will likely be even more of that work being done in Indianapolis so that teams are ready to make moves right from the starting gun.
After the Rams traded for defensive end Myles Garrett, a wave of chatter emerged that the move could lure Aaron Donald out of a two-year retirement. Since then, the talk has largely subsided.
It’s heating up again.
Here’s something we found this morning, thanks to an item published earlier today by EssentiallySports.com. On Friday, the NFL on Clutch Points account on Instagram posted an image of Donald wearing a pair of Super Bowl rings. Posted beneath it was a lengthy message that said, among other things, “The thought of pairing Garrett’s unstoppable edge presence with Donald’s historic interior dominance is turning a hypothetical dream into a reality. . . . Putting them on the same defensive line feels completely unfair to every offensive coordinator and quarterback in the league.”
Scrolling through the comments, one stands out: Donald himself reacted to the post with the wide eyes emoji.
The day after the Garrett trade, Donald told Pat McAfee that the move “sure got me thinking,” adding that Donald needs to “see if that fire can light back up.” One month and one day later, Donald, who could have simply stayed quiet, dropped a hint that the flame may now be flickering.
The Rams have made it clear that they’d welcome Donald back. Why wouldn’t they? Yes, he’s 35. But Donald has two fewer years of wear and tear that any other 35-year-old defensive lineman would have. And he previously was so good that it took two, and often three, blockers to slow him down.
That becomes much harder to do, with Garrett on the defensive line. It would be pick your poison time for all opposing offenses. And it would make the Rams and an even stronger favorite to get back to the Super Bowl (currently, +295), which will again be played in their home stadium, and win it (currently, +550).
Frankly, anything less than a berth in Super Bowl LXI would be viewed as a disappointment, if they can put Donald and Garrett on the field together — and if the team’s cluster of thirtysomething stars can stay healthy for the long haul.
Rams quarterback Ty Simpson didn’t slide far enough in the first round to make that into a legitimate source of motivation. If he’s looking for it elsewhere, he’s in luck.
Former two-time NFL General Manager Scot McCloughan recently directed sharp criticism at the 13th overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
“I think the quarterback from Alabama is overdrafted,” McCloughan said on the Team 980 in D.C., via Valentina Martinez of the New York Post. “But it’s the position alone, you know. I think, not being a guru, but he’s like J.J. McCarthy. He’s like Mac Jones. He’s a career backup.”
(It’s been a week of catching strays for McCarthy. First, Dianna Russini says he “sucks” in the footage from her January traffic stop. Now this.)
“Ideally, he might start, but that’s because of where his pick was and they want to prove everybody right, you know, type of thing,” McCloughan said. “And that’s not the way you should build a roster. Not at all.”
McCloughan knows a thing or two about scouting; he served as G.M. of the 49ers from 2008 to 2009, a personnel executive in Seattle from 2010 to 2013 (when they built a Super Bowl champion), and Washington G.M. from 2015 to 2016.
Then again, Sean McVay knows a thing or two about quarterbacks. And this is the first potential starter the Rams have drafted since McVay arrived in 2017. (He inherited Jared Goff, and in 2021 the Rams traded for Matthew Stafford.)
Time will tell what Simpson will become. With Stafford talking about playing into his 40s, it could be a while before McCloughan is proven right, or wrong.
LeRoy Irvin, a first-team All-Pro at both cornerback and punt returner with the Rams in the 1980s, has died at the age of 68.
The Rams announced Irvin’s death today, and among those remembering him are former teammate Eric Dickerson, who posted about him on social media this morning.
“Devastated to hear about the passing of my brother, teammate, and Rams legend Leroy Irvin. Leroy wasn’t just a lockdown corner and a fierce competitor on the field; he was a true friend and a great man who always brought incredible energy. Rest in peace, my brother. Sending my thoughts and prayers to the Irvin family and all of Rams Nation,” Dickerson wrote.
Irvin had punt return touchdowns of 75 yards and 84 yards in a 37-35 Rams victory over the Falcons in 1981, and his total of 207 punt return yards in that game is the NFL’s all-time record.
One of Irvin’s most memorable plays was a 94-yard interception return in the fourth quarter of the Rams’ 24-17 win over the Cowboys in the 1983 playoffs.
Irvin was chosen as the NFL’s first-team All-Pro punt returner that season, and was a first-team All-Pro cornerback in 1986.
The Rams took Irvin out of Kansas in the third round of the 1980 NFL draft, and he played with them through 1989. He finished his career with one season on the Lions in 1990.
As Netflix expands its NFL footprint to include a full five toes of NFL games in 2026, it’s hoping to enhance its desire to “eventize” football with some normalcy.
Elle Duncan of Netflix tells the Sports Media Watch podcast that the studio show for the games will have the same people involved.
“We’re not doing an 18-game slate,” Duncan said, via Derek Futterman of Sports Media Watch. “We want every single one of our events to, yes, have a through-line and some consistency, and you’ll get that with the desk and the talent, but, ‘How are we making each one of those things feel special and different and honor where we’re doing it at?’”
Netflix will stream the Week 1 game from Australia between the 49ers and Rams, the Thanksgiving Eve game between the Packers and Rams in L.A., two Christmas games (Packers-Bears and Bills-Broncos), and a Saturday afternoon game to launch Week 18.
Officially, Netflix doesn’t aspire to have a full, season-long NFL broadcast package. However, with its current arrangement in place through 2029, Netflix could eventually decide to make a bid on one of the various weekly windows.
In 2025, the NFL began outfitting the jerseys of the prior year’s award winners with gold shields. This year, a pair of Rams will be wearing them.
The gold shields go to the reigning NFL MVP, the offensive player of the year, the defensive player of the year, the offensive rookie of the year, and the defensive rookie of the year.
This year, the five awards that will be acknowledged with gold shields were won by Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (MVP), Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njgiba (OPOY), then-Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (DPOY), Panthers receiver Tetairoa McMillan (OROY), and Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger (DROY).
With Garrett being traded to the Rams, L.A. will have both Stafford and Garrett wearing the gold shields. (If Garrett hadn’t been traded, the 5-12 Browns would have two defensive players wearing gold shield).
The gold shields are hard to notice, since the shield on each jersey is small. The issue landed caught our eye on a slow Sunday because the Seahawks have posted an image of Smith-Njigba in his new jersey.
And, no, Smith-Njigba’s gold shield doesn’t have a typo.
If you’re confused by how the World Cup works, join the club.
We’ve finally made sense of how 48 teams became the 32 that will now proceed to the single-elimination knockout round. Of the 12 four-team groups, the top two made it, along with the best eight third-place teams.
Along the way, Iran was in after a goal by Algeria against Austria in stoppage time on Saturday night — and then out after Austria scored in the final seconds to force a 3-3 tie.
For the United States, here’s the path to what would be an unexpected but thrilling run to the final match.
On Wednesday, July 1, the U.S. plays Bosnia and Herzegovina at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. A win would put the U.S. team into the round of 16, facing the winner of Belgium and Senegal. That match will happen on Monday, July 6 at Lumen Field in Seattle.
A win there would send the U.S. to the final eight. The opponent for the match to be played on Friday, July 10, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles would be the team that emerges from this quartet of countries: Portugal, Croatia, Spain, and Austria.
Next up would be a trip to the semifinals, on Tuesday, July 14, at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. Then, a victory would trigger a berth in the final game, to be played on Sunday, July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
It won’t be easy. It will require four straight wins, starting in just three days, with the site of Super Bowl LX hosting one of the most consequential soccer matches the U.S. has ever seen.
A win would raise the stakes considerably in the home stadium of the defending Super Bowl champions. A victory there would shift the focus to the site of Super Bowl LXI. Then, all eyes would turn to Jerry World — for a match at a level his Cowboys haven’t achieved since the year after the last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup.
