NFL Exec: 'Wouldn't Be Surprised' If Sean McVay Stepped Away from Rams After 2022

With the 2022 NFL regular season in its final weeks, the future of head coach Sean McVay might again become a major storyline for the Los Angeles Rams.

Jordan Schultz of theScore spoke to an NFL executive who said McVay might hang up his whistle: "I wouldn't be surprised if Sean walked away, at least for a year. He almost did it once. … I think he's really tired. It wouldn't shock me at all if he left."

Speculation about the 36-year-old kicked into gear after the Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.

The Athletic's Mike Sando cited one NFL team executive who heard rumors of McVay's willingness to transition to the broadcast booth with Monday Night Football.

A month earlier, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported "several execs have made the Jon Gruden comparison with his career path." The Tampa bay Buccaneers fired Gruden after the 2008 season. Still in his mid-40s at the time, Gruden signed with MNF instead of pursuing other coaching opportunities, though he did eventually return to the sideline in 2018.

McVay has commented in the past about how he doesn't envision being an NFL coaching lifer.

In November, The MMQB's Albert Breer reported on The Rich Eisen Show that McVay might wait until the quartet of Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp, Jalen Ramsey and Matthew Stafford have left before he steps away from coaching.

The four stars were instrumental in the Rams' Super Bowl triumph, and coming into the 2022 season, it appeared the franchise still had a wide-open championship window. The outlook has changed with Los Angeles sitting at 4-10 and last in the NFC West.

If McVay is sensing Los Angeles is already on a downward trajectory, then he could move up whatever retirement plans he had.

NBC Sports' Peter King wrote Monday, "I think anyone who is really paying attention has to have some uncertainty about whether Sean McVay returns to coach the Rams in 2023."

King also noted how the NFL's major media partners have already hitched their wagons to notable analysts, so broadcasting may now not be the fertile ground for McVay it would've been coming out of the 2021 season.

"I'd put my money on McVay being back to coach the Rams out of the mire, but we'll see," King concluded.

The fact the Rams have fallen so short of expectations provides an obvious source of motivation next year for all of the key figures within the organization as well. Giving it at least one more season could be an easy call for McVay.