When you’re based near Hollywood, maybe veering into the theater of the absurd is inevitable. But if the 2026 Los Angeles Rams want their bizarre spring trailer to signal a winter blockbuster, then they might want to add one more plot twist to the script.
To summarize the past few days, the Rams – probably the clear-cut, second-best team in the NFL in 2025 (and just barely shy of the top spot) – surprisingly chose Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft. Then coach Sean McVay, admittedly, went out of his way to downplay Simpson’s selection (multiple times in various interviews) in deference to the Rams’ current QB1, league MVP Matthew Stafford. Then, even after being tabbed, Simpson claimed he’d never met McVay, nor previously spoken to GM Les Snead. THEN Snead admitted that Simpson had been less than truthful … on the Rams’ behalf.
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Got it?
“It was shocking. But it was shocking only because we were thinking about the L.A. Rams being a right-now team,” said NFL Network draft analyst Bucky Brooks, a former scout in the league.
“They were one player or so away from being able to close the gap on the Seattle Seahawks and overtake them. People say they’re the second-best team in the league.”
Co-signed. And co-signed.
The cloaks. The daggers. The kid gloves. The heel turns. The opportunity cost. Wild.
Opinion Stafford, Simpson and a QB-in-waiting dilemma: McVay must be ‘careful’
And aside from confirming his involvement in this season’s production during “NFL Honors” in February, when he was announced as the league’s 2025 MVP, Stafford hasn’t even had his first scene in this apparent thriller – though the leading man of the Rams’ latest big-budget undertaking should have a word, and maybe already has, with its executive producers.
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Lying Ty Simpson, grumpy Sean McVay and a Rams script beyond belief
If you didn’t pay close attention to the draft and simply checked to see which players went where, then you probably came away at least partially mystified that L.A., which was probably two or three plays away from advancing to Super Bowl 60 – whether it was that wild, overturned two-point conversion in Week 16’s overtime loss at Seattle, or the muffed punt and defensive lapses that (barely) sunk them on the same field in the NFC title game a few weeks later – chose Simpson.
Then McVay’s public pooh-poohing immediately afterward elicited such a reaction, even from his inner circle, that he was compelled to explain it the next day.
“For any of the questions or misunderstandings just based on my demeanor or disposition last night, I did want to get that out of the way,” McVay said April 24, while reaffirming his bond with Snead, who wound up answering most of the questions about Simpson on draft night.
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“That was brought to my attention because I got so many texts. That was never my intended way to be able to come off, but sometimes I can be a little grumpy.”
Yet then he immediately doubled down on his support for Stafford, who was the primary subject of his messaging in the aftermath of the Simpson pick.
“I couldn’t be more excited about being able to add (Simpson) but also understanding how much I love Matthew Stafford – how respectful you want to always be and to the way things can be interpreted,” McVay continued. “The demeanor would’ve been stoic by nature because you are excited, but … it is Matthew’s football team.
“What a blessing it is for (Simpson) to be able to learn from Matthew and to be able to come into this atmosphere and environment. Whenever that time comes for him to get an opportunity to be Matthew’s successor will be on Matthew’s terms. I think that’s really what the important thing was.”
Sean McVay talks with Matthew Stafford during the NFC title game in January.
Matthew Stafford plays Rams’ silent leading man – for now
His public silence still intact, Stafford’s true feelings on the matter are purely a matter of conjecture. But McVay’s inclination to bend over backwards to express appreciation for him seems at least somewhat telling – particularly since there were numerous players (G Vega Ioane, TE Kenyon Sadiq, WRs Makai Lemon, KC Concepcion and Omar Cooper Jr. et al.) who seemingly could have contributed significantly to a team seemingly perched to win the Super Bowl in SoFi Stadium for the second time in five years at the end of the 2026 campaign.
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“The approach of planning for the future is wonderful and all, but I don’t think Ty Simpson is anything special. There’s a Ty Simpson every year (in the draft),” former New York Giants vice president of player personnel Marc Ross, now an NFL Network analyst, told USA TODAY Sports. “His track record, with the lack of starts, his size – there’s nothing really about him (to like).
“It’s just odd in all kinds of ways. … And there wasn’t a big market for teams getting Ty Simpson, especially at 13. Wow. That was insane to me.”
Yet you also have to feel for Simpson on some level, both given McVay’s priority on being sensitive to Stafford and also the fibs the rookie told while trying to adhere to the Rams’ pre-draft wishes that he not divulge his lengthy meeting with them. Simpson said he’d never met McVay nor spoken to Snead after being chosen, which was categorically untrue.
“Sean, there’s no way he would pick a QB without meeting him,” Snead said April 28 on “The Pat McAfee Show,” performing more minor damage control in the Rams’ post-draft media blitz while copping to the meeting with Simpson and defending him in the wake of the “gamesmanship” the Rams asked him to practice prior to April 23.
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“Ty stayed on script, we were really trying to keep it from other teams. … Poor guy, he’s so earnest – that’s what he’s doing.”
Will the QB depth gambit ultimately be worth it?
Ross’ approach with the Giants was to target players early in drafts who could help Eli Manning win immediately, then worry about quarterback contingency plans later.
“They weren’t first- or second-round picks. Kinda under the radar, we took quarterbacks every year,” said Ross, “but it was worth trying to take guys who were really good backups and hope we hit more on them.”
Ross is now wearing a pair of Super Bowl rings, both the 2007 and 2011 Giants very much bolstered by rookies and young players.
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And while succession plans are great in theory, Brett Favre didn’t reach another Super Bowl with the Packers following Aaron Rodgers’ arrival … nor did Rodgers after Jordan Love was taken in the first round in 2020. Kirk Cousins didn’t get the Falcons to the playoffs after they took Michael Penix Jr. in the first round just a month after Cousins’ arrival in free agency in 2024 (but, Atlanta, ya know).
However both Favre and Rodgers went to NFC championship games with their high-profile understudies on the sideline. Think Roddy White, drafted after Rodgers, might have put Green Bay over the top? Think Justin Jefferson, who was in striking distance in 2020, or Tee Higgins would have gotten Rodgers to his second Super Bowl?
What’s the takeaway for the Rams as Lemon and Cooper – both seemingly from central casting as it regards to the receivers the Rams value – prepare to play elsewhere?
Snead already knows. “(Bleep) them picks” − which is exactly what he should do next.
Plot twist: Converging redemption arcs propel Rams to Super Bowl 61?
The Rams were widely reported to be in the A.J. Brown sweepstakes in March, McVay later admitting that current WR2 Davante Adams, who literally limped down the stretch in 2025 with a bum hamstring, had also been on the trade block. Guess what? Brown is still available. Sure, everyone thinks he’s ticketed for New England and a reunion with Mike Vrabel, formerly his head coach in Tennessee. But Snead has another month to figure out a way to get Brown given Philly EVP/GM Howie Roseman can’t reasonably move the mercurial wideout before June 1 due to the penal implications his contract would have on the Eagles’ salary cap otherwise.
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And, sure, Brown sulked due to his lack of targets in Philly last season. But just imagine how he might feast on defenders (likely in single coverage) if paired with Stafford, a far more precise and effective passer than Jalen Hurts – not to mention the load he’d reduce on Puka Nacua and, especially, Adams.
And no team loves running multiple tight end sets more than the Rams. A three-wide alignment including Brown is the next-best (better?) thing, the 6-foot-1, 226-pounder who runs like a bull and has finished shy of 1,000 receiving yards just once in seven NFL seasons − and he’s never had a QB who remotely approximates Stafford − plenty strong enough to assume some of those blocking duties.
Snead lightly acknowledged the Brown proposition with McAfee.
“There’s probably different levels on the spectrum of ‘Is everyone available or not?’” he said, careful not to say too much about a player under contract with another team − tampering, etc. etc.
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But, c’mon, Les. Stay in character. Sure, maybe you have to restructure a deal here or there to squeeze Brown under the Rams’ cap. But after largely neglecting the offense during free agency and the draft, let’s give it that added jolt that might be too much for the Seahawks to handle next time. And, simultaneously, you mollify Stafford and also a fan base largely disaffected by the Simpson choice in the process − to whatever degree that may or might not be necessary.
As good as the 2025 Rams were, if the sequel’s just a touch better in 2026, bleeping those picks and keeping your leading man happy are cost overruns no one will care about.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rams can squash Matthew Stafford-Ty Simpson drama with this one move
