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Los Angeles Rams · Franchise era 6 of 7

The long rebuild and return home: the Los Angeles Rams story

The story in one sentence

Jackson carried years of losing, Donald arrived as a foundational defender and the franchise returned to Los Angeles in 2016.

01

St. Louis struggles before Los Angeles gets the Rams back

02

Steven Jackson, Chris Long and Aaron Donald gave the era its recognizable core.

03

Its ending created the conditions for the mcvay era.

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Before 2005

    What came before

    Warner's emergence, Faulk's versatility and a deep receiving corps produced two Super Bowls and the championship after the 1999 season.

  2. March 13, 2012

    The RGIII draft trade and its eight-player tree

    Washington wanted to end a decades-long quarterback search. The Rams chose volume, then repeatedly traded the incoming selections to spread the return across three drafts.

    06TradeMarch 13, 2012To WAS20121STround assetTo LAR20121STround asset20122NDround asset+2 assetsWashington's RGIII trade-upWAS receives 2012 first · No. 2LAR receives 2012 first · No. 6, 2012 second · No. 39, 2013 first · No. 22 + 1 more5 original assets · 3 outcomes tracedOpen trade →
  3. After 2016

    What came next

    McVay changed the offense immediately, reached two Super Bowls and won the second after the Rams traded aggressively for Stafford and veteran stars.

The core

Faces of the chapter

← Previous eraThe Greatest Show on Turf1999—2004Next era →The McVay era2017—present