Rams free agency grades: How did LA do on signings and trades?

The Los Angeles Rams made one of the biggest splashes of the offseason when they traded for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie last week, but they showed Monday that they're not done adding quite yet.

On the first day of NFL free agency, the Rams re-united McDuffie with his former Kansas City Chiefs teammate Jaylen Watson, signing the four-year veteran defensive back to a three-year, $51 million deal. They also bolstered their special teams by signing long snapper Joe Cardona to a two-year contract. This of course just 24 hours after inking a four-year, $124 million contract extension with McDuffie that made him the highest-paid corner in NFL history.

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The Rams are going all-in again, but how do they stack up? Here are some grades for LA's offseason moves so far:

Trent McDuffie trade and extension: A-

This is the big swing that we've come to know general manager Les Snead for. We saw it when he acquired another former Chiefs DB, Marcus Peters, in 2018. And again a year later with Jalen Ramsey.

It's also the kind of splash in the secondary that Snead hasn't really made since shipping off Ramsey to Miami in exchange for a third-round pick in 2023, but he alluded to it when speaking to reporters last Tuesday about trying to maximize what's left of 38-year-old quarterback Matthew Stafford's window.

"Is there an All-Pro that you could add?" he mused to reporters last week, a day before the McDuffie trade. "That would be nice."

Enter McDuffie.

An All-Pro in 2023, his presence immediately provides a boost to a Rams defense that stumbled down the stretch during the 2025 season. LA had top 10 metrics according to Pro Football Focus in coverage (90.1, first), yards per attempt (6.3, fourth) and passing touchdowns allowed (13, seventh) in Weeks 1-12. Those ratings all dropped to below league-average from Week 13 through the rest of the season, culminating in Sam Darnold passing for 346 yards and three touchdowns on them in the NFC championship game to send their divisional rival Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl.

Four draft picks is a steep price to pay - Snead has the reputation of saying "[expletive] them picks" for a reason - but the Rams were able to hold onto the higher of their two first-round picks in this year's draft.

McDuffie isn't the biggest guy on the field at 5-foot-11, 193 pounds and as USA TODAY Sports' Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz pointed out, he alone doesn't solve the Rams' problem of matching up with bulkier receivers. Which left the door open for another move ...

Rams sign CB Jaylen Watson: A

Watson, on the other hand, does. At 6-2, he can slide right into the outside spot opposite McDuffie and handle the bigger, more physical receivers that would be mismatches for McDuffie.

A seventh-round pick in 2022, Watson is coming off the best season of his career in 2025 with a career-high two interceptions, six pass breakups, two sacks and 64 tackles in 15 games played. He's also shown he can be a consistent presence in the secondary, playing more than 500 snaps in each of the last three seasons.

Rams sign long snapper Joe Cardona: B+

One of the more under-the-radar moves on Monday, the Rams began to address their league-worst special teams unit from last year, signing Cardona to a two-year deal to replace outgoing long snapper Jake McQuaide under new special teams coach Bubba Ventrone.

Cardona was originally drafted by the New England Patriots in 2015 and won two Super Bowls in his 10 years with them before signing with the Miami Dolphins last year. In his career, he's totaled 25 tackles and one forced fumble.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rams offseason grades: how did LA do with free agency signings, trades?