The Los Angeles Rams’ biggest need going into the offseason was their secondary, and they wasted no time addressing it.
The Rams kicked off the offseason by making a blockbuster trade for Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie and then signed the Southern California native to a record-breaking extension. They then brought in his running mate in Kansas City, Jaylen Watson, on a three-year free agent contract. That gives the Rams two starting level cornerbacks they can play on the outside, which they didn’t have last season.
L.A. wasn’t done there though as they also retained a key piece of their secondary by re-signing safety Kam Curl. He is coming off a breakout season and was rewarded with a new three-year contract.
When speaking about returning to the Rams, Curl expressed his excitement about the team’s new additions in McDuffie and Watson, via NFL Network:
“I’ll see them in the building real soon, but just seeing those moves that the Rams made, it just got me excited to go play with those guys, those big playmakers. And we’re just trying to have the No. 1 defense this season and I feel like with the guys we’ve got in the room now and on the defensive side of the ball, we’ve got a good chance to do that.”
With McDuffie and Watson on the outside, Quentin Lake in the slot, and Curl and Kam Kinchens at safety, the Rams suddenly have one of the best young secondaries in the NFL. Combine that with an elite pass rush, and Chris Shula should be able to put together a quality defense to go along with L.A.’s stellar offense.
Sean McVay explains Rams’ decision to part ways withAubrey Pleasant
The Rams have also made some changes on the coaching staff this offseason and, to the surprise of many, parted ways with assistant head coach Aubrey Pleasant. Head coach Sean McVay recently explained the team’s decision to go in another direction with their secondary.
“We had a bunch of conversations,” McVay recently said. “At the end of the day, he made tremendous contributions to us, but just felt like it was going to be in the best interest of both parties to be able to move on. And not an easy decision, but one that I do think is going to be best for us, and sometimes those are the tasks that we are charged with.”
