Sean McVay Outlines Requirements For Rams' Free Agent Wishlist

The Los Angeles Rams have a set of standards that they hold all incoming players to

Jan 10, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams (17) runs off the field after the NFC Wild Card Round game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

WOODLAND HILLS, Ca. During the McVay era for the Los Angeles Rams, the franchise has been powered by their massive moves in free agency or with the veteran trade market.

Players like Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, Jalen Ramsey, Robert Woods, Andrew Whitworth, Matthew Stafford, and Davante Adams and more have come to Los Angeles with championship aspirations. As the Rams look to add championship pieces in 2026, there is a standard that the franchise has for inbound players. Here's what they are.

The Requirements to Be a Ram

On Monday, Rams head coach Sean McVay spoke to the media where he covered several important topics to wrap up his end of year presser. McVay outlined some of the ambitions of the Rams this offseason in regards to team construction, thus I asked if there were any requirements he needed from a player before bringing them into the fold.

“I think what you want to be able to do is identify previous examples of whether it be overcoming adversity, demonstrating a resilience or a mental toughness," stated McVay. "I just think the more that you do this, you bet on people and you don't punish them for not having had to overcome stuff, but usually when you're looking at previous examples of, how did they handle adversity? What was their response like? How did it make them stronger? That adversity in this space is inevitable and if you don't have the ability to handle it, it's going to catch up to you. When you've consistently bet on people that have shown the ability to overcome and be forged in the fire the right way and come out of it stronger that is a really cool thing."

Jan 10, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay and Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales meet after the game in the NFC Wild Card Round game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

"We've leaned into being able to try to measure some of those intangibles that are hard to measure, but the vetting process, the previous examples and then in a lot of instances the talks to you about what that looks like. When a guy has a bad play, let me watch that next play and I want to see what he looks like. How quickly is he able to shake those things off? There are a lot of layers to it, but the mental makeup and the overall competitive character is something that I don't think you can ever minimize, that's something that we've really leaned into.”

That will be the mindset that the Rams' brain trust will be taking into this offseason.

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