THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — It didn’t take much time after the Los Angeles Rams won Super Bowl LVI for the front office trio of general manager Les Snead, COO Kevin Demoff and VP of football and business administration Tony Pastoors to turn to the task ahead: Keeping as much of this championship roster together as possible.
The first big move was to sign quarterback Matthew Stafford to a contract extension in March, tying him to the franchise through the 2026 season. And then last week, the Rams reworked defensive tackle Aaron Donald‘s contract to give him a big raise and signed wide receiver Cooper Kupp to a three-year contract extension that pairs him with Stafford for five more seasons.
After the Donald and Kupp deals, the Rams still have $7.6 million of cap space, according to Over the Cap.
And while those are the three long-term deals the Rams have done this offseason, there is plenty of talent alongside them. The Rams are now the only team in the NFL with two players — Stafford and Donald — who have an average salary at least $30 million per year in their current contracts. Cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who signed a five-year, $100 million contract extension in 2020, has a cap hit of $23.2 million this season. Wide receiver Allen Robinson II signed a three-year, $46.5 million contract this offseason.
So, how did they do it?
With a top-heavy roster containing so many star players, the Rams have to rely on their draft picks to add cheaper talent. For this to work, they have had to find young talent to fill in around the headliners. The Rams have managed despite not having a first-round draft pick since 2016. The Rams have 11 projected starters they’ve picked on the second or third day of the draft since 2017, led by Kupp (a third-rounder in 2017).
The recent contract extensions also helped the Rams’ cap…
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