The former Kansas City Chiefs teammates, who won two Super Bowls together, are back in Southern California and ready to fortify the Rams’ secondary.
Newly signed Rams cornerbacks Trent McDuffie, left, and Jaylen Watson speak during a news conference Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Woodland Hills. “He was just screaming at the top of his lungs,” McDuffie said Thursday as he addressed reporters at the Rams’ practice facility in Woodland Hills.
On the other side of the emotional spectrum was McDuffie’s former Chiefs teammate, cornerback Jaylen Watson. Watson had identified the Rams as a place he’d like to sign in free agency. But with the McDuffie trade, he figured the Rams were no longer an option, just as he had thought on draft night in 2022 when McDuffie went to the Chiefs in the first round.“I called him again just like Puka, screaming at the top of my lungs,” McDuffie said. With the trade for McDuffie and signing of Watson, the Rams remade their cornerback room in a matter of days. A weakness that held the team back and dragged down the play of the pass rush in 2025 became seemingly a strength overnight. Built on the shoulders of two corners who were drafted together in 2022, won two Super Bowl rings together and complement each other’s skill sets. “His strengths are the short area quickness, the small shift of guys,” Watson explained. “My strength are the bigger receivers. So we should be pretty diverse. We should be able to match up pretty well against a lot of different looks we get.” For both corners, this represents a homecoming of sorts. McDuffie was born in Orange County and went to high school at St. John Bosco. He said his family was all smiles when informed their commute to his home games had turned from a three-hour flight to a 30-minute drive. Watson was welcomed back by his old teammates at Ventura College when they learned of his return to the area. But the first priority for both players was to find the right organizational fit, somewhere they could continue to learn under a new coaching staff while continuing to compete at the highest level. And the Rams needed defensive players with that kind of experience on the roster, especially after the retirements of former Super Bowl champs “This team has been knocking on the door year in, year out, especially since I’ve been in the league and I could tell that this culture was something special,” McDuffie said. “I want to just build upon it.” “They have everything right here in front of them,” Watson added. “All we got to do is put in the work to be successful and we can do it.” For McDuffie, there might be a little extra scrutiny. That’s what happens when you sign a record-breaking, four-year extension that resets the cornerback market. But he said he was ready for that level of responsibility. “I feel like I don’t have to do more than who I am, but I feel like I definitely have a responsibility to be someone to stand up here and face you guys when things are wrong,” McDuffie said. “And just being one of those guys that when teams think of the Rams, they can look at me and be like, ‘OK, that’s what it means to be a Ram.’” Whatever the future holds, McDuffie and Watson will face it side by side. Just as they did as rookies learning their playbook in a training camp hotel. And just as they did on the sport’s biggest stage. “That’s the best feeling ever,” Watson said. “And it’s not only just any teammate, it’s one of my closest teammates from my previous team. So I was super excited. Super happy to share the field with him and hopefully we can do some great things here.”Rams agree to terms with long snapper Joe Cardona on 2-year dealRams agree to terms with CB Jaylen Watson to further solidify secondaryFBI warns California law enforcement agencies of possible retaliatory Iran drone attacksShooting at Rihanna’s LA home leads to attempted murder charge for Florida womanUS Sen. Jon Husted testifies remotely in ex-FirstEnergy executives’ corruption trial
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