LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams are the favorite to win the Super Bowl after All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie’s trade became public.
A two-time Super Bowl champion, McDuffie is embracing the expectation of helping the Rams get back to the top as he came so close to winning it all the past two seasons with a team that would go on to win it all.
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“Like I said, this team is ready,” McDuffie said. “I don’t think I’m going to come in here with a team that doesn’t know its value. So I feel like I can inject those little nuggets into the guys that are going to get us through this and I’m going to do the best I can because that’s the end goal. I know the end goal for me coming in is the Lombardi Trophy, so everything we do is to bring a ring back to the city and that’s what I’m going to do.”
The Rams officially added McDuffie on Thursday, joining a blockbuster trade from Kansas City that received the No. 29 pick, fifth- and sixth-round picks in April’s draft and a third-round pick next year. He then signed a four-year contract extension that made McDuffie the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history and will keep him with his hometown team until 2030.
McDuffie, 25, who played in three Super Bowls in four seasons with the Chiefs, knows all too well the difference between success and failure.
For the Rams, who went 12-5 last season and lost 23-17 in the NFC Championship Game to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, it was their inability to cover high-level receivers like Jaxon Smith-Ngiba when it mattered most that kept them from earning the division’s top seed or competing for the title.
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The Rams hope to turn those mismatches in their favor by adding McDuffie and his former Chiefs teammate Jaylen Watson as free agents.
McDuffie has defended 34 passes, thrown two interceptions and forced eight fumbles in 56 career regular-season games. He was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2023 and received second-team recognition in 2024. McDuffie also offers the flexibility to play outside or inside, though safety Quentin Lake has had great success under defensive coordinator Chris Shula.
“It doesn’t matter where you put me,” McDuffie said. “I’m going to play it safe. I’m going to keep my hands in the dirt. Like, I hope I don’t have to do that. But, really, I just want to play here, you know. Wherever you put me, I’m going to work day in and day out to make sure I do my job at a high level, and that’s who you’re looking for.”
McDuffie’s ability to use his short-yardage speed to cover “the crafty little guy,” as Watson describes it, is what sets him apart. But Watson, who signed a three-year deal that includes $34 million guaranteed, may be just as important as his 6-foot-2, nearly 200-pound frame, which allows him to compete with the likes of new division rival Mike Evans.
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“Trent and I complement each other very well,” Watson said. “My strength is the big receivers. So we should be very diverse. We should be able to handle a lot of different looks we get well.”
McDuffie and Watson entered the league together as part of the 2022 draft class, with the Chiefs selecting Watson with the 222nd pick out of Washington State after beating out his Apple Cup rival McDuffie.
Watson hoped to start his career in Kansas City but thought the drafting of McDuffie and fourth-round pick Joshua Williams would prevent that, only to find himself drafted in the seventh round.
Four years later, Watson approached free agency hoping to help address the Rams’ deficiencies.
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“Then they traded Trent, and I knew he was going to be the highest-paid player in the league, and I was like, ‘Not going to the Rams.’ So, yeah, it was a full-circle moment,” said Watson, who has defended 24 passes and thrown three interceptions in 53 career regular-season games.
Together, McDuffie and Watson are ready for the expectations their arrival will bring to the Rams.
“It doesn’t matter what’s on the paper,” Watson said. “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do and take what’s in front of you one game at a time and hopefully when it’s all said and done we can get there.”
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