So on Thursday, with the 13th pick in the NFL draft, the Rams looked beyond the Matthew Stafford era to the future.
The Rams selected Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, making him the heir apparent to the reigning NFL most valuable player.
Simpson started only 15 games at Alabama, but that was enough for coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead to determine that he could be developed into an eventual starter.
Stafford, 38, and the Rams are expected to work out an adjustment to his contract for this season, but whether Stafford intends to play beyond 2026 is unknown.
Last season, as a fourth-year junior, Simpson passed for 3,567 yards and 28 touchdowns while leading the Crimson Tide to an 11-4 record.
He is the first quarterback drafted in the first round by the Rams since 2016, when they traded up a record 14 spots to pick Jared Goff with the No. 1 pick.
Fourth-year pro Stetson Bennett is the only other quarterback on the Rams roster. Free agent Jimmy Garoppolo, Stafford’s backup the last two seasons, is mulling retirement, according to McVay and Snead.
After advancing to the NFC championship game last season, and then fortifying the roster by trading for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, the Rams are expected to be a favorite to play in Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.
BBC bosses are poised to offer Sara Cox the Radio 2 Breakfast Show job after Scott Mills’s sacking, insiders told The Sun.
Sources said veteran broadcaster Sara, 51, was seen as the “heir apparent” for the role — which is widely regarded as the best job in radio.
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Sara Cox is being lined up by BBC bosses as the frontrunner to replace sacked Scott Mills on the Radio 2 Breakfast showCredit: GettyA downcast Scott, who hosted the show since January 2025, until being sacked last month, was seen out for the first time todayCredit: Darren FletcherInsiders said they expected Sara, who joined the BBC in 1999 as a Radio 1 DJ, to be offered the job this summerCredit: Getty
Mills, who had hosted the show since January 2025, was dismissed last month.
“Since Scott left, she has been the name which has been discussed as the best candidate and everyone at Radio 2 is saying she will be offered it.
“Sara has made a huge success of her drivetime slot and is hugely popular at the station, plus she’s hosted the Breakfast Show as a stand-in before.
“The BBC won’t be rushing this through as they want the dust to settle. But Sara is the one in line and, as far as her colleagues are concerned, she is the best person for the job.”
Sara, who began a TV career in the 90s, featured on Radio 2 as a cover host for various shows in 2012 while still working for Radio 1.
The mum-of-three landed her first permanent Radio 2 show, hosting Sounds of the 80s on Saturday nights, the following year.
She went on to replace Simon Mayo as the drivetime presenter in 2019 and stood in on the Breakfast Show in 2025.