The 2025 NFL season is officially over for the Los Angeles Rams despite an admirable run during the NFL playoffs, which ended with an unfortunate loss to the division rival Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game.
With the Rams heading into the offseason, the team needs to figure out ways to improve the roster while also taking care of its best players by securing their long-term futures with the franchise.
Puka Nacua & Byron Young in Line for Contract Extensions
GettyLos Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua
Two of the Rams’ star players on both sides of the football have a chance to get paid this offseason, with wide receiver Puka Nacua and linebacker Byron Young eligible for lucrative long-term contract extensions, which both will likely get.
Dan Graziano of ESPN predicts that Nacua and Young will secure long-term deals with the Rams after solid performances in 2025. He also points out that Nacua could reset the wide receiver market, along with Seahawks star Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Nacua and Seattle wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba are both coming off big years, and each is a candidate to reset the wide receiver market. (Seattle holds a 2027 fifth-year option on 2023 first-rounder Smith-Njigba.) Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase is currently the highest-paid wide receiver in the league at $40.25 million per year, but there’s a sizable gap between him and the $35 million per year that Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson makes as the second-highest-paid wideout. So the two ways the Nacua and Smith-Njigba situations can go are:
- One or both of them tops Chase, and the wide receiver market just keeps spiraling upward.
- They settle in somewhere between Jefferson and Chase, and the wide receiver market starts to correct itself a little bit.
Graziano believes that Nacua could be looking at a deal a bit higher than Young’s, but both will make $72 million or more guaranteed.
- Nacua: Four years, $156 million with $90 million guaranteed at signing
- Young: Four years, $145 million with $72 million guaranteed at signing
It’ll be interesting to see how this situation pans out in Los Angeles and whether Snead and company can get it done without any complications or drama over the course of the offseason.
Matthew Stafford Not Ready to Make Decision on NFL Future
GettyMatthew Stafford #9 of the Los Angeles Rams
Rams star quarterback Matthew Stafford is coming off the best season of his NFL career, and it seems inevitable at this point that he’ll be named NFL MVP for the first time ahead of Super Bowl LX.
Even though Stafford is playing the best football of his career for a team that could be a perennial title contender for the next few years, he isn’t ready to commit to play another season, as retirement is a real possibility for the veteran gunslinger.
“When I’m ready to figure that out, I’ll be ready to figure that out,” Stafford said on the Let’s Go! podcast. “That moment isn’t right now. I have so much more time, I feel like, to reflect on just the people and the season that we just had. I want to appreciate that and give it the time that it deserves before I start thinking personally about what’s next.”
The Rams will likely address the quarterback position during the offseason, whether by seeking a viable backup who can start in the future or by finding a starter to replace Stafford right away, which could be a challenging proposition.
Rams Predicted to Give Huge Extensions to Two Stars This Offseason