The Los Angeles Rams boased one of the most explosive offenses during the 2025 season, led by Matthew Stafford who ended up winning the MVP for his efforts.
Stafford looked better than ever under center for the Rams, showing a clear mastery of head coach Sean McVay’s offense as he routinely found holes in the opposing defense’s coverage. However, Stafford couldn’t have had the year he had without the play of the offensive line which was one of the best overall units in the league.
Not only was the offensive line great at run blocking and freeing up the likes of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, but they also managed to keep Stafford clean on his dropback attempts. Rob Havenstein was the team’s starting right tackle, but injuries opened up the door for Warren McClendon Jr. to step in.
McClendon was great covering for Havenstein and he’s apparently done enough for Los Angeles to want to try and extend him, via Tony Pauline of Essentially Sports:
As I reported from the Shrine Bowl, the team also hopes to extend the contract of tackle Warren McClendon Jr., who’s entering the final year of his rookie deal.
Unlike previous years, the Rams have plenty of cap space to play around with so they can certainly afford to extend McClendon who’s earned a pay raise. McClendon, a fifth-round pick out of Georgia, has served mostly as a swing tackle in Los Angeles but has always performed admirably when filling in.
He is entering the final year of his rookie contract and McVay recently indicated that he has earned the starting right tackle job, so extending him now could save them some money down the line if he has an exceptional 2026 season.
The rest of the offensive line is more or less set with Alaric Jackson, Steve Avila, Coleman Shelton and Kevin Dotson and McClendon seems set to join them assuming the two sides can come to an agreement. Continuity along the offensive line is crucial for team success and the Rams would be wise to prioritize McClendon as the rest of the offense remains mostly the same.
This offseason is one of the most pivotal in franchise history as it remains to be seen how much longer Stafford plays. With the team’s Super Bowl window open, they need to do everything they can to give themselves the best chance of winning it all.
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