Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead famously wore an "F--- them picks" shirt with his face on it during the Super Bowl LVI parade after the 2021 season. He even joked about the attire in his speech, saying at the podium, "F them picks -- we'll use them to go win more Super Bowls." The joke stemmed from Snead notoriously trading away draft picks for star players, an approach that fueled the franchise's second Super Bowl championship.
A year later, Snead is backtracking on that comment.
The Rams were on top of the world last season, hoisting the Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals to win the Super Bowl in their home stadium. But a lot can change in a year, and for the Rams it was a completely different story in 2022. Los Angeles finished with a shocking 5-12 record, coming in third in the NFC West.
Snead explained that looking back, his parade remark did not exactly age well.
"I will admit that any time you probably say something like that … you're going to eat those words at some point in time," Snead said, via the Los Angeles Times, noting that he was just trying to have fun playing off a popular meme. "If we truly believed in effing them picks in that sense of the word, we'd just give them to our division opponents."
He then explained that he slipped up and did not say what he actually meant to say.
"I truly intended to say, 'We effed these picks to win Los Angeles a Super Bowl championship.' So, I always knew I was going to eat those words at some point."
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The Rams' draft has looked a lot different than many other teams' drafts over the past few years. They have not made a first-round selection since 2016, taking quarterback Jared Goff No. 1 overall that year. In the 2022 NFL Draft, the team did not make a pick until the third round. However, that doesn't mean the organization de-values the three-day event every spring.
"We've definitely taken the draft serious," he said. "We think it's really the heartbeat, right, of the franchise."
From where the Rams are from a roster standpoint, Snead said it will be healthy for them to add players on rookie contracts who can develop into consistent contributors. He believes the Rams will have 10 selections in the 2023 NFL Draft.
They're also set to finally have a first-round pick in 2024 ... unless Snead makes other plans.
