Will Sunday, January 8 in Seattle become the last time the Los Angeles Rams have Sean McVay roaming the sidelines?
While McVay told the L.A. media on Friday, January 6 that his focus is on coaching the Rams amid the ongoing speculation of TV networks trying to woo him, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter provided a new report on Saturday, January 7 that says the 2022 Super Bowl-winning coach’s immediate future will now come with him thinking about his next move.
“Sean McVay’s immediate future as the Los Angeles Rams head coach is in limbo, multiple sources told ESPN,” Schefter reported. “Those sources believe McVay will take some time after Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Seattle Seahawks to determine whether he will return in 2023.”
Adam Schefter Reveals Personal Reasons Behind Sean McVay Being in ‘Limbo’ About NFL Future
Schefter dove further into sharing the reasons why McVay, 36, has gone “back and forth” about his coaching future and future inside the “Rams House.”
“McVay has gone back and forth on the decision, and needs time to get away to process all that has transpired over the past year — winning a Super Bowl, being courted to work in television, getting married, watching his wife’s home country of Ukraine invaded, losing his grandfather [John McVay], and then coaching a team that has fallen short of its expectations,” Schefter wrote. “Los Angeles is 5-11 — the first time since the Rams hired him in 2017 that McVay will have a losing record as a head coach.”
Schefter added: “The defending Super Bowl champions have been decimated by injuries, and sources believe it has taken its toll on McVay. Sources believe McVay needs time to recharge and to determine whether he has the energy to continue coaching next season.”
His Rams team has already had to go without three of their biggest stars and leaders Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald as all three were lost to spinal cord contusion and ankle injuries. McVay’s offensive line unit was considered the most decimated — going with more than 12 different starting lineup changes and needing to bring in Oday Aboushi and Ty Nsekhe during the season.
Sean McVay Addressed Future in Week 18
McVay was asked about the rumblings of him considering a run at the broadcast booth.
“I think it’s flattering,” McVay first responded. “These are always things that you kind of anticipate and expect that are going to come up because I haven’t run away from the fact that, down the line or whenever that is, that’s something [broadcasting] that I’ve been interested in.”
However, McVay let it be known “I want to be here right now, focus on that and that’s where I’m at.”
McVay signed a contract extension before the season that stretched into 2026. Even if he were to step away, the contract would toll and he would remain under contract by the Rams.
But in the event McVay does indeed walk away, he’ll leave being three games shy of coaching in 100 regular season NFL games and going 67-40 overall as a head coach — which includes his seven playoff victories and last season’s Super Bowl win.
And if he decides to return for 2023, he’ll have to tackle an offseason period that includes the Rams currently having $1,772,534 in salary cap space to work with per Over the Cap, hold no first round draft pick for the upcoming draft and also decide the future of current QB1 Baker Mayfield, who’s an unrestricted free agent. What could also give McVay leverage in returning is Stafford announcing on his wife’s podcast “The Morning After” that he’s not retiring and Kupp coming back from his season-ending injury.
But Ram fans, and the NFL, will certainly be glued to learn what McVay truly decides after the season ends.
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Sean McVay’s Rams Future ‘in Limbo’ Heading Into 2023: Insider