The Los Angeles Rams have strung together a busy offseason where the front office has made several big splash moves to the roster. This has significantly elevated the level of expectations around the organization to high levels that what was previously placed on the franchise.
The Rams are coming off their first playoff appearance in over a decade and have only added more premier proven talent to the team. With that in mind, Las Vegas has pushed the Rams to the third-best betting odds to win Super Bowl LIII according to Kevin McGuire of NBC Sports:
Latest Super Bowl odds from @BovadaLV:
Patriots 5/1
Eagles 8/1
Rams 9/1
Steelers 10/1
Vikings 12/1
Packers 12/1
49ers 15/1
Saints 22/1 pic.twitter.com/csQ9ojPHUf— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) May 1, 2018
Following what the Rams have done this offseason, it was only expected for them to be among the top betting odds to win the Super Bowl next season. The team has potentially strengthened their defense significantly with the additions of All-Pro talents in cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib along with Ndamukong Suh.
The front office has also found a potential replacement to fill the void that wide receiver Sammy Watkins has left by acquiring veteran wideout Brandin Cooks this offseason in exchange for their 2018 first-round draft pick.This has already added to the core group of players that the Rams have on both sides of the ball that had held excelled under first-year head coach Sean McVay.
Granted, Los Angeles has yet to take the field to see if this additional talent will work out, but it at least shows that there are some tremendous level of expectations before them. That said, there will be several other formidable teams aside from the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles such as the New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, and San Francisco 49ers that could all favor in the equation.
At the end of the day, it is still quite early to assess what teams are truly Super Bowl contenders, but the Rams have clearly assembled a roster that has built the perception that they could quickly become one.