What will LA Rams extension of Matthew Stafford mean over long haul?

For the rest of the NFL

After watching how quickly the LA Rams vaulted to a Super Bowl-winning status, plenty of NFL teams are throwing caution to the wind and trying their own hand at spending NFL Draft picks in a sprint to become a Super Bowl contender in 2022. Of course, some of these transactions will not pan out, but just check out some of the team on the move so far?

That list does not include WR Tyreek Hill being traded from the Kansas City Chiefs to the Miami Dolphins, nor any big-name signings of veterans who were released by their former team who have yet to sign on with a new team.

The LA Rams ignited a far more aggressive nature in the NFL GM consensus of what is within the scope of a reasonable trade. As a result, seven NFL teams possess 10 or more picks in the upcoming 2022 NFL Draft, and two teams have 12 or more picks to use. On the other hand, the LA Rams were originally the only team that would not select until Round 3 of the 2022 NFL Draft. They have since been joined by the Las Vegas Raiders and the Miami Dolphins in awaiting their first pick until later in Day 2. And the Dolphins, like the Rams, will not select anyone among the Top 100 of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Have the Rams truly altered NFL roster-building strategies that much? Well, yes. Winning a Super Bowl automatically attracts mimicry, whether the knock-offs are anywhere close to the Rams’ original blueprint is itself a topic of great debate. It’s an entire organizational culture, not just a kneejerk reaction to trade more draft picks than usual. To sum it up, it’s just not that easy to do.

Sit back and enjoy LA Rams fans. The Rams and Matthew Stafford are starting a beautiful friendship. But the fun is not just what the LA Rams will do for the foreseeable future, but how other NFL teams will try to duplicate what the Rams are doing.