Getty Sean McVay looks at his play sheet on January 1, 2023 in Inglewood.
As Sean McVay addressed his reasons for returning to the Los Angeles Rams, he also broke his silence on the word “trade” being attached to All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey while also addressing the pending futures of edge rusher Leonard Floyd and wide receiver Allen Robinson.
McVay spoke to reporters on Friday, March 10 while on the eve of the league’s free agency signing period — which sets off in five days and kicks off the 2023 NFL calendar year. But again, McVay used the virtual interview to speak about about the pending futures of all three, particularly the perennial Pro Bowl CB who’s been a topic of trade discussion.
“Those are all fluid situations,” McVay said (h/t rams.com). “I think we’ve had dialogue with those guys about what the possibilities are. You want to keep some of those conversations in-house, but you also don’t want people getting caught-off guard. There’s a lot of information that’s out there, and there’s always a lot of discussions that take place behind the scenes.”
Another words, whatever conversations McVay is having with Ramsey, “A-Rob” and “Flo” is more for inside the Rams’ building. The returning head coach hasn’t said specifically if the Rams are indeed shopping Ramsey.
However, the 2022 sack leader Floyd has played his final game as a Ram — as he was officially released on Friday. Members of Robinson’s camp, meanwhile, have asked for a trade — though the Rams considered shopping Robinson during the season as noted Monday by NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport.
McVay Chimes in About Thought of Luring Back 2 Former Rams
McVay was additionally asked about the status of Robert Woods and Odell Beckham Jr. — the two Ram wideouts who became an integral part of both McVay’s offense and claiming the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl 56.
McVay isn’t shying from the fact that the Rams have both on their free agent radar.
“When you talk about two great players like that, to say that there’s not interest, that would certainly be silly,” McVay explained. “Those are situations that we’ll absolutely monitor. There’s a lot of layers to it, relative to, OK, what are the ways you can set up adding them? And how does that fit within the puzzle that you really have to put together with some different pieces, and probably more moving pieces since I’ve been here, since we first got here in 2017.”
Ram fans already hope that Woods makes his return after a one-year disaster with the Tennessee Titans that saw career-lows and simply not being a valuable part of their offense. Beckham never signed with any team in 2022 due to his lingering torn ACL in the Super Bowl win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
However, there’s new speculation that the New York Jets’ top defensive rookie Sauce Gardner is recruiting OBJ — with CBS Sports capturing this screenshot of a FaceTime conversation between the two.
Beckham had a workout scheduled in Arizona for interested NFL clubs Friday.
McVay Reveals ‘Long-Term Commitment’
McVay opted to come back to the Rams after rumblings of being interested in a broadcast career. Plus numerous people close to McVay began to believe the coach was facing burnout following the 5-12 disaster of 2022.
But the 37-year-old McVay is fully on board…and says this is a “long-term commitment.”
“You want to make sure that you’re making a decision that’s in alignment for years to come, not an every-year type of deal. Because that’s really important,” McVay said. “There’s a lot of people that you feel a great deal of responsibility to, to do right by them and to do a great job within the framework of your responsibilities. And I’m really committed to not having this become a story every year because I know that’s probably something that people are asking or wondering. And I don’t take that lightly.”
McVay concluded with: “And then if I’m asked about it, being truthful, and my plan is that is something that I’m committed to for the long term.”