The Rams' Jalen Ramsey trades the first domino in changing the team's philosophy

LOS ANGELES – As the 2022 Los Angeles Rams completed a 5-12 season, the front office recognized that the 2021 core that won Super Bowl LVI was aging.

“Of course they will want to bring it back [or] Do that again and you get a lot of those players back,” Rams general manager Les Snead said. “When it didn't work out at that point, you had to say, 'Okay, who's the core?' How many years does this core have together? It won't last forever. When is it best to start developing a new core?

“That was probably when it really started. … I don’t want to say the clock struck midnight, but the core, this team, this senior class … it just doesn’t last forever.”

So changes were made — including trading star cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Miami Dolphins for a third-round pick. To many, this move meant the Rams' championship window was approaching as they recouped draft capital and began rebuilding rather than adhering to the philosophy Snead famously sported on a t-shirt at the Super Bowl LVI championship parade his photo and the line represented, “F— these picks.”

After all, the Rams won the Super Bowl by making big moves to improve their roster, including trading for quarterback Matthew Stafford in the offseason, adding linebacker Von Miller at the trade deadline and signing Odell Beckham Jr. briefly on it. The moves were made to add edge rusher Aaron Donald and receiver Cooper Kupp – two players along with Stafford, who Snead later called the “supporting walls” of the roster.

As the Rams look to assemble another Super Bowl contender, they've returned to assembling the roster in a more traditional way: through the draft. It's an attempt to build a new core alongside veterans on offense, including Stafford and Super Bowl LVI MVP Kupp. Although the team's two draft classes are still early in their careers since Ramsey's departure, their success so far suggests the Rams are on the right track.

“We’re going to continue to try to improve,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “It's different than it looked a few years ago. It’s different than it looked in my very first year in 2017, and all of that has allowed us to continue to make a lot of good decisions.”

The 2023 trade for Ramsey, who will pitch for the Miami Dolphins against Los Angeles on “Monday Night Football” (8:15 ET, ABC/ESPN/ESPN+), was the first sign of a changing approach to team building for the Rams Philosophy. The Rams have gone from “F—the picks” to today's 4-4 team that has its first first-round draft pick in years.

THE RAMS WERE 7-1 at the 2021 trade deadline, and there was “a confidence based on where Donald was in his career” and the fact that outside linebacker Leonard Floyd was “really coming into his own,” McVay said.

“They say, ‘Hey, a player of Von Miller’s caliber is available. Well, let’s try to get him,’ and then Odell Beckham Jr. becomes available.”

Those moves were just the latest moves the Rams had made to get there, including trading Ramsey in October 2019 for two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick and then drafting quarterback Jared Goff, their first-round picks in 2022 and 2023 and a third-rounder in 2021 to the Detroit Lions for Stafford.

“When I stopped liking football so much, I was traded to LA and that changed everything drastically for me,” Ramsey recalled of his time with the Rams. “It was just incredible.”

In addition to trading draft picks, the Rams also paid these superstars, resulting in a top-heavy roster, especially after paying Stafford, Donald and Kupp after the Super Bowl victory.

“It’s a different approach,” McVay said of the way the Rams built the Super Bowl roster. “Some of it was a necessity. I think you have seen many models that work. I think you have to be able to embrace whatever that approach is based on all parameters.”

Although the Rams didn't make a trade at the 2022 deadline — they were 3-4 — they did make two big moves: They negotiated with the Carolina Panthers for running back Christian McCaffrey and linebacker Brian Burns. The Panthers traded McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers, but did not trade Burns at the deadline.

When it became clear that the 2022 version of the Rams wouldn't be able to perform the way the roster was constructed, the team began retaining its draft picks and saving salary cap space.

At the time, team president Kevin Demoff referred to the inevitable change in mindset: “[We’re] There are probably a few more players who win the Super Bowl. How can we start acquiring these players instead of saying, 'Hey, we're going to create all the space for one player.'”

In September 2024 – after his first season in Miami – Ramsey signed a three-year contract extension worth $24.1 million per year, making him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history for the second time in his career. The Rams had done the same for Ramsey four years earlier, signing him to a five-year, $105 million contract extension after trading for him in 2019.

On Thursday, McVay said Ramsey knows “the respect and admiration I have for him as a player and what he has meant to this team.”

“There were a lot of difficult decisions ahead for us as a football team,” McVay said. “And it had nothing to do with us not wanting him here. There were a lot of things we needed to do because of some previous years and things like that.”

“He understood that, so it was important for us to find a situation that worked for both sides based on what he had done for us. Miami was someone who was interested… [and] he was excited about it.

During the March 2023 league meetings, after the Ramsey trade and a quiet free agency period, Snead quipped, “We're the boring Rams this year.”

In those same meetings, Demoff made it clear that the Rams are not betting on the 2023 season. The Rams started 3-6 before winning seven of their final eight games and advancing to the playoffs.

“On a macro level, there's always going to be a version of this where … hey, there are players who grew up together,” Snead said Tuesday. “They are in their prime and then starting over, starting over and adding new players will be the natural solution to start something from scratch. That's the big picture of what we've been through since the beginning.” Viewpoint from back in 2021.

IF THE RAMS Having drafted linebacker Jared Verse in April, this was particularly significant as it was the team's first first-round pick since trading for Goff in 2016.

While this is a different way to build a team compared to their last Super Bowl squad, the Rams are starting to see that this method is paying off.

According to ESPN Research, Rams rookies have seven sacks and six interceptions this season, both the most in the NFL. In the 2024 draft, the Rams selected five defensive players: Verse, defensive lineman Braden Fiske (second), Kamren Kinchens (third), outside linebacker Brennan Jackson (fifth) and defensive tackle Tyler Davis (sixth).

Verse (3.5) and Fiske (3.0) rank first and second, respectively, among rookies in sacks this season. Verse continued to be one of the leading rookies in Week 10 with nine tackles for loss, 24 pressures and 13 quarterback hits.

This group is made up of defensive players who were drafted last year, including tackle Kobie Turner and linebacker Byron Young. Last season, the Rams' rookies had 19 sacks, the most in the NFL.

And in 2024, the Rams have 15 sacks by any player in their first two seasons, which is the most in the NFL, according to ESPN Research.

The success was particularly evident in the Rams' Week 9 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. In that game, Verse had one sack, Fiske had two, Kinchens had two interceptions and Davis had half a sack.

According to ESPN Research, Fiske is one of two rookies this season to record multiple sacks in a game. The Rams paid significant costs to trade him. Accordingly ESPN's draft pick ratingsLos Angeles' trade of picks No. 52, 155 and a 2025 second to Carolina for pick No. 39 was the most expensive Day 2 “overpay” in at least the last six drafts.

“It was an investment in this draft class, especially when you look at Jared Verse and Braden Fiske,” McVay said. “I thought those two guys made their presence felt [against Seattle]. I thought [Week 9] was, in a way, a coming out party of sorts for Braden Fiske. He's done some really good things. It's tough that he was chartered with only two sacks. He certainly had a lot more influence when you watch the film again.”

It's Verse's attitude and strength on the field that caught McVay's eye in the draft process, and his “toughness” reminded him of Donald and Ramsey.

“He has some things about him that I really like,” McVay said of Verse. “That was great for our defense. I think the boys benefit from it and that's a good thing. You need guys like that. Aaron.” [Donald] had that with him too. He may not have spoken so loudly, but the way he would pierce people who knew her. Ramsey was like that.

“Sometimes there's something about these best defensive players that makes you think, 'Oh man, we need that.' You need that edge, that energy, that swagger and Jared Verse definitely has that.”

And while Snead and McVay have insisted all season that replacing Donald – a future Hall of Famer – is not a job for any one player, it is also clear that they have built a group that they hope will she can be the core of her next Super Bowl team. One was built according to the design.