The Los Angeles Rams invested heavily in their secondary this offseason, headlined by their blockbuster trade with the Kansas City Chiefs for Trent McDuffie. However, holdovers like Kamren Kinchens have proven–and will continue to be–pivotal.
Kinchens is a former third-round pick who has already disproven narratives in his short time in the NFL, all of which has been spent with the Rams.
This season could be another significant step in that direction for the former Miami Hurricane.
Rams’ Kamren Kinchens Draws Attention Before Key Season
GettyKamren Kinchens has earned his keep with the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams selected Kinchens 99th overall in the 2024 draft, one of several impactful classes in recent seasons. He heads into a potentially pivotal third season having already proven “he’s an exception to the rule.”
That is how Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski described Kinchens, who tallied a career-best 84 tackles with 2 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries.
He started eight of the Rams’ 17 regular-season games and two of three playoff tilts in 2025.
“The NFL often requires an athlete to hit certain baseline testing thresholds. Kinchens played extremely well during his time with the Miami Hurricanes yet tested as one of the least-athletic safeties over the last 39 years, per Kent Lee Platte,” Sobleski wrote on May 18.
“The 23-year-old embodies the argument of play-speed vs. timed speed. The Rams obviously believed in his ability enough to make the two-time first-team All-ACC honoree a third-round selection. He registered 141 total tackles, 12 defended passes and six interceptions over the last two seasons.”
Sobleski added, “Kinchens hasn’t been a full-time starter, but he regularly fills any need within the Rams’ secondary thanks to his ability to play free safety, in the box or over the slot—which makes him and Kam Curl interchangeable pieces.”
There could be even more to unlock for Kinchen. He is suddenly the clear weakest link–if only due to his inexperience–among the Rams’ projected starters in the secondary.
McDuffie and former Chiefs teammate Jaylen Watson are Super Bowl champions.
The Rams re-signed Curl, a former Washington Commanders seventh-round draft pick, at one safety spot. They had already extended Quentin Lake, who is a safety by trade but has played the nickel for the Rams.
Kamren Kinchens Could Feel Squeeze in Financial Planning
GettyKamren Kinchens is part of a revamped secondary for the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams are in great shape financially, and they project to be so for the foreseeable future. Still, Kinchens, who will be extension-eligible after the 2026 season and is slated to be an unrestricted free agent in 2027, and players like him could be squeezed out.
In addition to their current talks with Matthew Stafford’s camp, the Rams must also plan for the futures of Braden Fiske, Byron Young, Jared Verse, Kobie Turner, and Puka Nacua.
That is in addition to filling out the rest of the roster as needed, as players filter in and out.
Kinchens is unlikely to command top dollar in free agency, but it might not take that much to lure him away from the Rams when the time comes. That is assuming that Rams general manager Les Snead does not make a decision on Kinchens’ future before then.
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