Les Snead details ideal outcome for Los Angeles Rams atop 2026 NFL Draft, douses popular fan theory with cold water
Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead discusses the team’s ideal strategy for the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
The 2026 NFL Draft is less than a month away, and the picture surrounding what the Los Angeles Rams will do with the No. 13 pick hasn’t gotten any clearer. There are so many ways the pick could go, and that’s just the way the Rams like it.
At the NFL Owner’s Meeting this week, Rams’ general manager Les Snead provided a peek behind the curtain on how the Rams will be approaching their first-round pick.
Rams’ ideal outcome might not be to pick at all
The Los Angeles Rams have held onto the 13th overall pick, choosing instead to send the 29th overall pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for cornerback Trent McDuffie.
That was deliberate, according to Snead, and it opens up their strategy at the top of the NFL Draft. In his own words, “We’ve kind of saved that pick because it is 13. We haven’t picked this low, high, whatever you want to call it, in the lot.”
Snead also relayed that the Rams “more than likely” won’t move up in the draft. Instead, their ideal plan might be to simply move back and accumulate as many picks as they can in the draft.
“I think, if I were being realistic, more than likely we don’t move up, because the price point to move up, depending on how the thing goes, you always go, can you as you go in your situation. If it’s, oh, some of the players that come in right now, they’re gone, maybe you could move back. That would be the strategy, collect more picks if that’s a possibility. And then I would say also, I doubt we use that for a veteran player.”
Les Snead
This makes sense, as the Rams currently do not have a pick between #93 and #207 (the end of the sixth round). The Rams ascribe to the line of thinking about having as many picks as possible, and have always enjoyed having the flexibility to move up and down the draft. Not having any picks in the middle of the draft makes that difficult.
A trade up has always been far-fetched, considering this lack of capital, but it has been a popular fan theory. If the right player falls, perhaps a small leap up could occur, but it seems unlikely the Rams would even consider it.
For now, I wouldn’t expect the Los Angeles Rams to pick at No. 13 based on these comments. If they don’t trade from 13, they likely will at the end of the second round.
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