The Los Angeles Rams have been busy this offseason making big changes to their offense and considering even more significant moves for the future. Matthew Stafford is returning for the 2025 season and Los Angeles signed Davante Adams to replace Cooper Kupp, but even bigger moves could be on the horizon.
There are plenty of needs to address in the 2025 NFL Draft, impacting the team both next season and well beyond. Los Angeles has plenty of work to do with its secondary and there are also holes at off-ball linebacker and tight end. However, the team might not necessarily be done adding at receiver and quarterback.
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While Adams signed a two-year deal, Los Angeles could reasonably get out of it after the 2025 NFL season. Likewise, keeping Stafford didn’t come with a long-term pact that will keep him as the Rams starting quarterback beyond next season. It’s part of the reason why one top analyst believes Los Angeles could draft Stafford’s successor early.
In a 2025 NFL Draft preview for ESPN, Field Yates named the Rams as his ‘favorite team to watch’ to target a quarterback within the first two rounds of the draft.
“On one hand, Matthew Stafford is still playing at a very high level at 37, and the Rams don’t currently have a second-round pick. On the other, Stafford’s relationship with the organization is year-to-year at this point after his contract restructure, and it would be logical for Los Angeles to at least consider a quarterback somewhere on Day 2. Louisville’s Tyler Shough has similar traits to Stafford; he can throw from a variety of different angles and hit tight windows.”
Field Yates on why the Los Angeles Rams might take a QB early in the 2025 NFL Draft
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The Rams draft picks in 2025 make Yates’ perspective intriguing. Because of the trade-up in the 2024 NFL Draft to land Braden Fiske, Los Angeles currently doesn’t have a second-round pick this year. Currently, the Rams pick 26th overall in Round 1 and then aren’t on the clock again until the 90th and 101st overall picks in Round 3.
If Yates’ thinking came to fruition, Los Angeles would either be using its first-round pick on a quarterback, trading back from the 26th overall pick or sacrificing future assets to move up on Day 2 for a quarterback. The issue with the latter is that a club could ask the Rams for their 2026 first-round pick in a deal, wanting a higher pick in the future since they wou;dn’t get a second-round pick back in 2025.
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More realistically, if Los Angeles were to take a quarterback in the first two rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft, it would trade back from the 26th selection to recoup additional assets on Day 2. The Rams would lose the benefit of the fifth-year option on a quarterback drafted in Round 1, but it’s likely a better outcome than reaching for someone like Jaxson Dart or Tyler Shough.