LOS ANGELES — One year after making a first-round draft pick for the first time since 2016, the Rams reverted to the norm on Thursday night by trading the No. 26 pick in the NFL draft to the Atlanta Falcons.
In exchange, the Rams received the No. 46 and No. 242 picks in this year’s draft and the Falcons’ 2026 first-round selection. The Rams also sent the 101st pick in this year’s draft to Atlanta, which selected Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce at No. 26.
“Had a feeling that this was a possibility that could happen tonight,” head coach Sean McVay said in the hanger of the Los Angeles Fire Department Air Control, where the Rams stationed their draft headquarters this year. “[We] ended up exactly where we wanted to be and to be able to get a future one is a big deal to just move back 20 spots.”
Entering Thursday’s first round, the Rams entertained all scenarios, including potentially trading up. But general manager Les Snead said teams were asking for more assets than the Rams were willing to relinquish.
McVay said the Rams always considered trading down to be the most likely outcome. Part of that was the expectation that quarterbacks might slide into the Rams’ range, which could lead to teams willing to pay up to move up from the second round. In that scenario, the Rams posited, they might be able to pick up a 2026 first rounder.
In the end, the New York Giants did trade up to No. 25, one spot ahead of the Rams, to take Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart. But vice president of football and business administration Tony Pastoors had been working the phones in the build up to the Rams’ slot in the first round, and the team fielded several offers.
“There was multiple teams that wanted to come either up from later behind us in the first round and even in the second round,” Snead said. “It’s just the Falcons wanted Mr. Pearce a little more than they wanted whomever they were coming up for.”
And the Rams felt comfortable moving back into the middle of the second round based off their evaluation of this crop of prospects as a whole.
Most evaluators have written about this being a relatively flat draft class after the top-15 or so picks, with many of the next 40-50 prospects having equivalent grades. And the Rams saw things similarly entering this weekend.
“What I’ve often said is this is a draft with good football players in it,” Snead said. “So I think it’s a draft that’s kind of got punch, not a lot of wow.”
“I think the biggest thing too is there’s a lot of appreciation for let’s just say your top-100 players and there’s maybe not as big of discrepancy between those guys that are in that top-15 to those guys that are maybe in our 85-100,” McVay added. “And so I think looking at where our team is overall, the value that we were able to get to be able to move back just 20 spots, felt like it was too good to be able to pass up and we’re going to come away with some good football players tomorrow, for sure.”
Snead said the Rams have targets they like at No. 46. After the first round, the plan was for the team’s decision makers to run through several scenarios and try to determine who might be available once it’s time for them to make the pick.
And as the Rams keep an eye on their post-Matthew Stafford future, they now have two first rounders in 2026, which is widely expected to have a talented crop of quarterbacks.
“For now we do,” McVay quipped, “for now.”
“Sean’s going to get impatient in the morning,” Snead added with a smile.