The Los Angles Rams bucked the NFL's conventional roster-construction mold to arrive at their final destination Sunday — standing atop a makeshift stage at SoFi Stadium, holding the Lombardi Trophy.
In simplest terms: They went all-in.
The long-term cost won't be cheap. They will go seven straight years without a first-round draft pick, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 names will be called at this year's NFL Draft before they walk to the podium for the first time.
Who cares? All worth it, right?
You bet.
For them.
But it's not a one-size-fits-all model. While some teams might consider replicating their blueprint given the outcome Sunday — a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI — it's not one for all to follow.
Like, say, the Kansas City Chiefs.
It would be enticing, particularly after coming this close to Super Bowl titles the past two seasons, to go all-in on 2022. To say the heck with the future. Go get another one now. But the Chiefs have a 26-year-old star quarterback playing on a contract that spans another decade. Even as the talent around him ages, as long as Patrick Mahomes is on the roster, the Chiefs' window is open.
Making wholesale changes — like trading five draft picks in one class alone, as the Rams did — at the detriment of future Mahomes seasons isn't part of the layout. Voluntarily placing yourself in salary-cap hell isn't either.
The Rams mortgaged a major portion of their future for the ultimate payoff Sunday, and you can't argue with the end result for L.A. It's the reason they won that trophy. But it's also true that they'll shoulder the consequences in seasons to come. Going for broke means eventually standing by your lonesome, clutching empty pockets in each hand.
The Rams will see the comeuppance of trading draft capital — of forgoing the opportunity to add young talent locked into multi-year contracts — in exchange for more proven yet but more expensive veteran players. To be clear, it's those known commodities who delivered the franchise's first Super Bowl since January of 2000, when they resided four hours east of KC, in St. Louis.
But in a salary-cap league, you can't retain them all. The resulting financial decisions become more difficult. The Rams are already $13.6 million over the cap for next season, fifth worst in the NFL, per OverTheCap.com. And not only will they be forced to let good players walk because of that cap situation, they've deprived themselves of their own reserves. The draft picks are gone.
It's all-in now. But it's flush out later.
The model worked for the Rams. Made sense at the time, too, given their situation at quarterback, in particular. Two of those first-round draft choices were used to acquire Matt Stafford. Other teams (Denver, anyone?) will be in a similar spot and should consider copying off the kid in class who just aced the test.
That wouldn't work as well for the Chiefs. Their transactions should be designed to compete for the long haul — for the duration of Mahomes' tenure — not to provide some quick fix at the expense of high-round draft picks and large chunks of salary cap space.
Build through the draft. Supplement with free agency when applicable and affordable. Trade the occasional pick? Sure. This isn't an anti-trade column. But following the Rams' lead and trading five picks from one draft class to fill holes on the roster with expensive cap charges? Pass.
Two different methods.
In this case, the Chiefs can trust their own resume. Their 2021 draft class — linebacker Nick Bolton, center Creed Humphrey, defensive end Joshua Kaindoh, tight end Noah Gray, receiver Noah Powell and right guard Trey Smith — will charge about $6 million to the 2022 salary cap. Combined.
That's less than 3% of the projected $208.2 million salary cap, and it encompasses the team's leading tackler and two highly graded starters on the offensive line. All are locked in for multiple years to come, by the way.
That's how they build for the long haul.
