When the Rams drafted Max Klare in the second round last week, it was the third time that L.A. made a significant investment in the position over the last 12 months. Between drafting Terrance Ferguson in 2025 and Klare in 2026, the Rams also extended Tyler Higbee and reaffirmed their commitment to the longest-tenured member of the team.
We know 100-percent that Higbee and Klare will make the 53-man roster this year, while trading Ferguson would be shocking so that makes three. Could any of L.A.’s other tight ends not be so safe?
Career Receiving Yards per Game + in games player was targeted >3 times1. Eli Raridon: 92.5 (5 games)2. Eli Stowers: 60.9 (27 games)3. Max Klare: 54.0 (22 games)4. Kenyon Sadiq: 49.0 (12 games)
Entering the final season of the three-year contract he signed in 2024, Parkinson has a $5.5 million base salary in 2026. Trading Parkinson would save the Rams $7 million in 2026 cap space.
The downside to trading Parkinson is that he was a fairly good player in 2025.
Matthew Stafford put on his MVP hat, leading the Rams down the field and hitting Colby Parkinson for the go-ahead TD with 36 seconds left. pic.twitter.com/Jv7GMSQkHQ https://t.co/Igx1acVkrG
Parkinson was third on the team with 43 catches, 408 yards, and eight touchdowns. In the playoffs, he added 152 yards in three games.
A player who turned 27 in January, Parkinson could still have many more years ahead of him. Are the Rams really preparing to lose him in 2027 with these draft picks over the past two years? Considering that Davante Adams and Higbee are both near the end of their careers and Parkinson just had a career year as a receiver, there’s some risk at hand to simply let him leave in free agency next year.
The compensatory pick the Rams would receive is fine, but in the grand scheme of things not very valuable.
Do the Rams plan to keep all four of these tight ends in 2026, re-sign or extend Parkinson, and prepare for Higbee’s retirement? His two-year extension is really just a one-year deal spread out over two seasons.
If the Rams put Parkinson on the block, maybe they would get a third round pick in 2027. He was very good once he got into his groove.
Also entering the final season of his rookie contract, Allen had career bests in 2025 with 24 catches for 208 yards and three touchdowns. A fifth round pick in 2023, the timing seems weird to be giving up on Allen in L.A..
And yet … seriously how do the Rams keep Davis Allen now unless they trade somebody else?
Blake Corum excels running outside. Rams have to run him inside to keep defense honest, but he should be getting these wide zone looks 2-3 times per game. Kevin Dotson lays out Tatum Bethune and Davis Allen moves bodies. Corum hits the cutback it pickup 10+. pic.twitter.com/TPGRyCszyz
— Blaine Grisak 💭 (@BGMediaOnSI) November 10, 2025
Barely 25, Allen is coming into his own as an NFL tight end.
Even if his ceiling is a tight end two, that’s still something the Rams gave up on by drafting Ferguson and Klare over the last year.
If the Rams put Allen on the block, they could maybe get a future fourth round pick in return. That seems fair and yet given he’s in a contract year and won’t given much of a chance to shine in L.A. next season, his value will only go down.
In addition, 2025 undrafted free agent Mark Redman probably thought he might get a chance. Not so.
If the Rams do not trade someone, they’ll be taking a bigger chance on tight end depth than any team in the league. If they Rams do trade someone, they have options between Parkinson and Allen, but these are still young players who could be some team’s top receiving threat at the tight end position next year.