And the Oscar goes to ... Sean McVay: How the Rams head coach masked his feelings after the Ty Simpson pick

For as long as Hollywood has been Hollywood, people have moved out to Los Angeles looking for acting stardom. Some toil in a different profession in their 30s, and they don't even get into acting until their 40s when they finally land their first break.

Sean McVay turned 40 this year, and after nearly a decade in La-la-land, I think he's picked up a couple acting tips while being the Rams head coach.

The usually affable McVay hardly offered more than a polite smile to reporters Thursday night after the Rams selected Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall selection. Someone who usually talks with his hands, McVay did his best to keep at least his left hand in his pocket for nearly the entire 11-minute press conference. And given several opportunities to gush about his first-round pick like two-dozen other head coaches across the NFL Thursday night, McVay did all he could to treat him like a faceless, nameless rookie.

These were not McVay's true feelings, in my opinion. This was a performance. He looked more like the McVay who just lost a Week 13 game in Carolina than he did the rosy-cheeked McVay enjoying Bill Belichick taking Cole Strange in the 2022 first round or the McVay who indulged in the double-dip of pass rushers in the 2024 draft.

The reason why is obvious, isn't it? McVay cannot appear to be too excited about selecting Matthew Stafford's replacement. The reigning NFL Most Valuable Player is seeking a contract adjustment for the third time in the past three offseasons (and four of the last five). Stafford has toyed with retirement, and he's even pondered life outside of the Rams as recently as 14 months ago.

He endured a painful back injury the entire preseason last year and gutted out the greatest individual season of his career. Drafting Simpson this high can easily be perceived by the 38-year-old starting quarterback as the Rams putting a cap on his career. Will the Rams still want him at 39 or 40 as the wick on Simpson's rookie contract burns? His wife, Kelly, has been candid in the past about wanting respect from the Rams organization.

"I value being respected and wanted over convenience," Kelly Stafford said in a February 2025 podcast during the previous contract standoff. "So, it would be very convenient to say… but if someone doesn't feel valued then, let's go on an adventure. Turns out if I have my husband and my kids, I'm good, I don't need anything else."

The Rams called Matthew Stafford on Thursday ahead of the Simpson pick. McVay declined to reveal the contents of the call but he did say his quarterback is "first class in every sense of the word." It's a delicate dance a team must do in the draft, giving a heads up to the incumbent. The Packers didn't do that with Aaron Rodgers in 2020 when they took Jordan Love. The Falcons snuck in a quick call to a surprised Kirk Cousins two years ago just before taking Michael Penix Jr. The Rams, trusting Stafford wouldn't let the cat out of the bag, gave their quarterback a bit more lead time.

Stafford is under contract through the 2026 season, and these negotiations are sure to result in a raise of the $40 million in cash he's due this season. How many more years would be added to the deal, and what would the guaranteed money look like are two questions still unclear. But McVay did say he doesn't believe this draft pick will impact negotiations.

In fact, McVay almost exclusively saved his hype for Stafford while downplaying at almost every turn the rookie.

Will Simpson be Stafford's backup? "He's going to compete with Stetson," McVay said, referring to the 2023 fourth-round pick Stetson Bennett who does not threaten Stafford's position at the top.

Was Simpson the top target or were other players considered? "There were a lot of players that we liked but when you do look at it, I think the thing you liked about the body of work is," McVay began before decided to steer the car over to the MVP off-ramp, "let's make one thing clear, this is Matthew's team."

How will McVay's success with other quarterbacks help him with Simpson, specifically? "It's one day at a time and right now we'll be focusing on that whole room. Ty will be a part of that whenever he joins us, but there's so much that goes into it," McVay says before later ending with a flourish. "We're excited to be able to work with him and I think he's really fortunate to be able to learn from the reigning MVP, a first ballot Hall of Famer and a guy that shows what it looks like every single day."

Sources across the league told me Friday morning they viewed McVay's mood as one typical of a coach who wants players who can help them immediately. When you consider how close the Rams were last year to winning a second Lombardi in this era, it follows that McVay could want to spend that lottery pick on a player who is expected to contribute in a meaningful way to the 2026 Rams.

"[In personnel] if you believe the guy is a future quality starter or better, it's better for long-term organizational health to take him despite the perceived championship window," one high-ranking team executive says. "And a coach will rarely ever lean that way because they have a narrow vision of roster construction. They are, by nature, selfish in terms of building a team for quick or win-now success, which is understandable."

That was certainly the argument against drafting Love in 2020. While the Packers have done what no other organization in football has by constructing an uninterrupted chain of three franchise quarterbacks across four decades and maybe beyond, they have two titles to show for it and, specific to the win-now years of 2020 through 2022 with an MVP quarterback and championship roster, one playoff victory.

There is a notion, though, that McVay and GM Les Snead are misaligned in this decision to take Simpson, which I find to be something that disregards a decade of evidence to the contrary. A head coach and GM don't have to agree on everything, but it strains credulity that these two in particular are on different pages about the 13th pick.

Sources say Snead has had his eye on Simpson dating back to the fall. After the trade for Trent McDuffie, it appeared the Rams may not be able to get Simpson. But clearly the quarterback came into view in recent weeks as the Rams target.

Here was Sean McVay on Tuesday when he surely believed Simpson was likely to be the pick: "I truly love Les and I have such respect for the job that he does. We've been through a lot together where I think you're able to learn about each other. As time has gone on, the appreciation has only grown. We see the game through the same lens."

McVay's brotherly love was not unrequited. Snead quickly reciprocated with more bromance.

"From a life perspective," Snead started, "you hear it when players retire, they miss the locker room. Whenever that time comes for me, I'll miss showing up and doing hard things with Sean just because that's a relationship that probably makes life worth living, makes it worth getting up."

You really think McVay and Snead are misaligned? I mean … come on.

What I do not accept as fact is the belief the Rams took Simpson because there is no way they are picking this high in the draft any time soon. The literal year after they won the Super Bowl they dealt with injuries across the board, won five games and would have drafted in the top six if they owned their pick. This year they had no business at No. 13 overall except for the Falcons shockingly dealing it to them last year. Would Snead and Rams COO Tony Pastoors, who are acknowledged as one of the best tandems in the business, not be able to conjure up a way to get a high draft selection in 2027 with a year's heads up?

But even when Stafford retires, the Rams have an option outside of the draft. Just like L.A. acquired Matthew Stafford in a trade five years ago, trades still exist in the NFL today. Quarterbacks can push their way out of what they perceive to be a disadvantageous situation.

There are agents who couldn't call Snead quickly enough to arrange a deal for their client. Guys would trip over themselves to waive a no-trade clause and give up half their salary to the state of California for a chance to work with McVay. The idea that it had to be now or never for the future of the Rams quarterback position is one I reject.

But Simpson is the pick, and so he is the future. L.A. doesn't have to spend time and resources planning for the future or secretly shopping for a quarterback. It is now out in the open, and that is why I believe McVay delivered his Thursday night performance.

If there is one thing that made McVay seem like he had a case of the Mondays, it was probably the idea that this line of questioning is just the beginning. What happens if Stafford's contract negotiations hit a snag? What of when an ailment befalls the aging quarterback? Will he have to respond to future podcast comments? What will be the expectations when Simpson performs in the preseason like the quarterback the team hopes he will be?

For three straight offseasons McVay has had to answer questions about Stafford's future. For a football guy, that's not what he wants to talk about. For a football guy who is the face of the franchise, that's exactly what he will have to talk about. And the Simpson pick only confirms that these questions will be his reality for at least another year, if not longer.

And in that case, sometimes the best acting comes from a place of truth, where it doesn't seem like acting at all.