2020 NFL contracts make LA Rams GM Les Snead’s deals bargains

LA Rams are trendsetters

For the longest time, NFL pundits have held the LA Rams in disdain.  The deals authored by general manager Les Snead were, at best, a gamble. At their worst? Those contracts were an albatross around the neck of the team’s future hopes. And if you focus on the 2018 contracts that the team engineered to retain Gurley, Cooks, and Goff, you would likely form that conclusion.

But if you step back, there is a completely different picture that comes into focus. That picture is one that some of the most successful NFL teams are only now starting to duplicate.  If you examine what the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs are doing with their roster this year, you will discover the following.  The Chiefs signed huge deals for their quarterback Patrick Mahomes, defensive end Chris Jones, and tight end Travis Kelce. Sound familiar?

NFL is a copy-cat league

I’m not one to say that the LA Rams front office walks on water. The Rams have taken calculated risks.  In some gambles, they’ve lost. And we’ve talked about those setbacks at length. So much, in fact, that we may have inadvertently set a negative-perspective about the Rams organization. In setting the future challenges, we do not intend to discount the value of the LA Rams success.

Step one: The Rams have a plan. The team always has a plan. And many NFL organizations fail at step one. The Rams have managed to go 33-15 over the past three seasons.  The team has been to the Super Bowl in 2018.  Have the Rams made some boneheaded personnel moves? Yes, absolutely. No successful NFL team hasn’t.  The Rams don’t stick to mistakes. Snead moves on quickly. We will continue to paint a realistic landscape for the Rams. But mark my words, Les Snead gets it. Take a bow, Les Snead.  Well played, well played