Les Snead fools everyone with this surprisingly shrewd Rams roster move

As soon as Los Angeles Rams venerable right tackle Rob Havenstein announced his retirement, a chain of events began. Havenstein, a long-standing starter as the anchor to the offensive line's right side, is hanging up his cleats. And his absence from the roster could compel general manager Les Snead to take drastic measures.

He was expected to address the vacancy with a huge investment in the upcoming NFL draft. Instead, he has chosen the road less travelled.

Snead just extended veteran right tackle David Quessenberry. While it seems like an underwhelming move, the strategy is worthy of a chess Grandmaster. Let's elaborate a bit. Despite an advanced age of 35, Quessenberry is entering his ninth NFL season and second season with Los Angeles. He was a depth player in 2025 and returns to a similar role this season.

With Quessenberry's return, the team needn't run a fire drill to land an offensive tackle early in the 2026 NFL draft. The team has enough on the shopping list for Day 1 of the draft without adding an offensive tackle to the cart. This team may seek help for the secondary, offense, or even a successor for veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Why David Quessenberry was a smart extension

Let's start with the basic foundation of the LA Rams roster right now. The team has 52 players under contract, and sufficient cap space to be among the top 10 NFL teams. But diving deeper, LA's offensive line looks like this:

• Left tackle - Alaric Jackson
• Left guard - Steve Avila
• Center - Coleman Shelton | Beaux Limmer
• Right guard - Kevin Dotson | Justin Dedich
• Right tackle - Warren McClendon Jr. | David Quessenberry

So far, the team has not shared much information on other offensive linemen like AJ Arcuri, DJ Humphries, Dylan McMahon, or others. Subsequent moves will come, but we simply don't have any updates for now. Still, from what we do know, the offensive line is in pretty good shape.

The team is likely to re-sign multiple offensive linemen from the practice squad. That leaves Snead to add new faces, an option that can now be addressed on Day 3 or after the 2026 NFL Draft. The team has remarkable success with late-blooming blockers. With Quessenberry back in the fold, the team can continue that age-old, and quite successful, tradition.

As always, thanks for reading.