LOS ANGELES — Since the Rams traded back in April’s NFL draft and added the Atlanta Falcon’s 2026 first-round selection, it’s been fair to wonder if the team might make an all-in trade to aid in their 2025 mission. How, after all, could general manager Les Snead, of all people, resist the urge to turn two first-round picks into an All-Pro addition?
But following Monday’s around-the-margins trade for cornerback Roger McCreary, head coach Sean McVay threw some cold water on that notion. While if an irresistible opportunity arose and the calculus could change, McVay said the team was not discussing potential additions ahead of next week’s trade deadline.
“I feel really good about our group,” McVay said, “and the growth that I still think can be had from us in spite of doing some good things.”
Exiting their bye in preparation for Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints (1-7), the Rams are in a different position than the previous two seasons. Rather than needing to dig out of a self-made or injury-induced hole, the team is 5-2 and in control of its playoff destiny with another 10 games to play.
But they are trying to maintain the same mentality that served them well in the back half of the past two seasons.
“Last year we were fighting an uphill battle. Now we’re still doing the same thing,” outside linebacker Jared Verse said. “It doesn’t matter how we think about it. We’re always fighting an uphill battle because if you get comfortable in this league, hey, humility’s a day away.”
Those last four words are a tried-and-true McVay-ism, born from a nine-year head coaching career and a Super Bowl hangover that cast a pall over the entire franchise in 2022. If you aren’t ready for an opponent or circumstance in the NFL, you are going to get brought back down to earth in a hurry.
So the Rams have tried to keep the focus this week on the Saints and not on the bigger picture, in spite of the record New Orleans has or the change in quarterback the Saints are undergoing this week, with second-round pick Tyler Shough making his first career start.
This is the same team, after all, that had the Rams treading water in New Orleans last season as Taysom Hill and Alvin Kamara pushed the ball up the field. And the same team whose defense hampered a Matthew Stafford-less Rams attack in an August joint practice.
“They have a lot of pride,” offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said of the Saints defense. “Our guys felt it firsthand. These are big, strong, prideful dudes and they’ve shown it. They showed it last week [in a 23-3 loss to Tampa Bay]. They played their butts off last week. I have a lot of respect for them.”
But this will be a good opportunity for the Rams to work on some of their own deficiencies. The team showed progress in the red zone in Week 7 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, scoring on all four of their trips with three touchdowns going to receiver Davante Adams.
“I told Sean that, I was like, ‘I wish we could keep rolling at this point,’” Adams said of the bye week’s timing. “The mature thing to think is that we would appreciate it regardless, but the competitor in me definitely wants to keep going sometimes, especially when the body feels good.”
With receiver Puka Nacua (ankle) and right tackle Rob Havenstein (ankle) back against the Saints, the Rams’ offense is back to full strength. This would appear to be a game to see what the group is made of, and if it’s ready to live up to its offseason hype after adding Adams to the mix.
But the Rams don’t want to get ahead of themselves.
“What I’ve loved about this team and what I think we can reflect on, there are a lot of guys that I know have dealt with adversity, they stayed the course and they have experiences they can draw on to be resilient. It is how you continuously improve,” McVay said. “If you had said after seven games last year, ‘What would people think of where we were at?’ They would’ve probably written a different narrative, but our guys didn’t believe that. On the flip side, do we have the maturity? Do we have the humility to understand that we’re in a decent spot right now, but humility is only a day away?”
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (1-7) at RAMS (5-2)
When: 1:05 p.m. Sunday
Where: SoFi Stadium
TV/Radio: FOX (Ch. 11)/710 AM; 93.1 FM; 1330 AM (Spanish); Sirius 234, 389