After making a somewhat surprising run to the Super Bowl last year and winning it all with a rejuvenated Matthew Stafford at quarterback, Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay saw old rumors that he was going to trade his spot on the sideline for a seat in the broadcast booth begin to swirl as Amazon began to fill out its new Thursday Night Football team.
Thirty-six-year-old McVay, who became the youngest coach to win the Super Bowl, put those rumors to bed when he reportedly turned down a potential five-year, $100 million contract from Amazon and returned to the Rams. “Just the timing and everything that surrounded it, it’s very flattering. I’m humbled by it,” McVay said of the decision at the time. “To say that down the line that [broadcasting] is not something I’m very intrigued by would not be accurate, but I’m totally committed to coaching.”
Now, with the Rams in the midst of a (literally) painful season at 3-8 with Stafford injured and McVay’s jaw hurting, the coach’s commitment to returning to coach Los Angeles is once again being questioned.
Per a piece from The Athletic, McVay could consider taking a break from football next season with one executive theorizing he’ll take “a bajillion dollars” to go to Amazon. “They wanted him before,” according to the exec. “It will bring something sexy.”
Then, after McVay has had his fill of watching the NFL from the broadcast booth, he could let Los Angeles know he’d like to come back but that he’d prefer to be coaching a team other than the Rams. For that to happen, a trade for McVay would have to be worked out, but that has happened before. And, with Los Angeles bereft of draft picks and cap space after mortgaging future assets to go on last season’s Super Bowl run, the Rams might actually be inclined to listen to offers for McVay — as would he.
“All these coaches want to be traded for because it shows how much control they’ll have in their new place,” an executive from another team told The Athletic. “Lots of coaches have left and come back. McVay would be a commodity every single year he wasn’t coaching.”
It’s somewhat of a wild scenario considering the Rams are the reigning world champions, but they only own two of their first six picks in the upcoming draft (no first-rounder) and don’t have much wiggle room to sign big-ticket free agents. With Stafford rumored to retire and All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald also winding down his career, the arrow appears to be pointing down in LA. McVay may want to get out while he can.
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