Under McVay, Rams are relevant. Now comes the hard part.

In the free-agency era, the Los Angeles Rams’ metamorphosis from a team missing the playoffs for over a decade to an NFC force is remarkable. Head coach Sean McVay orchestrated one of the NFL's more impressive makeovers, with Jared Goff and Todd Gurley headlining an instant success story after playing roles in Los Angeles’ four-win 2016 season.

Now comes a more challenging phase.

Goff’s four-year, $134 million extension locks in Los Angeles’ core long term. The rest of his 2019 schedule will help illuminate whether the Rams possess dynasty potential, because their ability to supplement their homegrown stars with splashy additions will be limited. How the Rams fare in the next stage of their plan will also impact the NFL. The Rams’ bid at constructing a perennial power brings higher stakes than most teams’ efforts.

McVay, Goff, Gurley, Aaron Donald and GM Les Snead are signed through at least 2023. This is good news for the league. The Rams’ foundation has helped make the country’s second-largest market relevant for the NFL. Had the Rams hired someone else besides McVay two years ago, the league’s decision to reopen the L.A. market would likely look remarkably different. After Jeff Fisher's Rams run ended in their playoff drought hitting 12 years -- the longest streak in the franchise's 83-year history -- McVay played the lead role in saving the NFL from embarrassment.

Los Angeles’ predictable apathy for the Chargers, who have next to no history in their current market, makes the league's decision to green-light two L.A. relocations look questionable. Bolts games continue to take place in a soccer stadium with droves of orange, black and basically any road team’s primary color enveloping the site each year. It's a bad look. The Rams' relevance will be vital to keeping this market at least half-interested in the NFL.

Although Goff's improvement will raise the team's ceiling, the Rams should have one of the league's highest floors as long as McVay is running this operation. His transformation of Goff from rookie nightmare to two-time Pro Bowler leaves the third-year coach little to prove on this front. Goff’s rookie-year QBR of 22.2 rated 17 points behind 2016's second-worst figure (Matt Barkley’s 39.2) and remains the worst mark of the past four seasons. McVay's first two Goff-piloted offenses scored the 16th- and seventh-most points of the decade.

At 24, Goff is far from a finished product. This contract extension illustrates McVay's confidence in the developing passer, which should be regarded as a rather important endorsement. But 2019 will reveal more about the Rams' potential for sustained success.

The Rams became the second team to transform their payroll by going from a quarterback on a rookie deal to paying one $30 million-plus annually, following the Eagles. Teams have struggled thus far to solve the new quarterback-contract equation. From April 2013 to June 2017, the top quarterback salary climbed by just $3M. Between Derek Carr's extension in June 2017 and Russell Wilson's in April, the NFL's salary peak rose by $10M at the position. This recent boom has helped lead to roster-building struggles; 2018's six highest-paid passers missed the playoffs. The Rams' ability to maintain a Super Bowl-caliber team will be tested.

Snead's 2018 splurge -– market-setting Donald and Gurley extensions and a high-end re-up for trade acquisition Brandin Cooks -– and Goff's impending deal forced departures of upper-middle-class-salaried veterans Rodger Saffold, Lamarcus Joyner, Ndamukong Suh and Mark Barron. Los Angeles added cheaper, older cogs in Eric Weddle and Clay Matthews but have turned to rookie-contract starters on its offensive line and to replace Suh and Barron.

This is probably a less talented Rams roster than last season's NFC champion outfit, as perhaps Week 1’s 30-27 win over the Panthers showed. The $33.5M-per-year Goff deal made the Rams the league’s first franchise with two $20M-annual average value. Donald’s $22.5M-AAV contract places the Rams well ahead of their peers in terms of money allocated to two players. This Goff contract, which spikes into steep cap numbers in 2020 in a way Wentz’s pact doesn’t, will force more high-profile talent out of L.A. Look no further than the Rams’ cornerbacks. Their 2020 corner contingent may look different, with Aqib Talib and the soon-to-be expensive Marcus Peters currently on expiring contracts.

An emphasis will shift to acquiring reliable starters at rookie prices. The Snead-era Rams have done well here, their Tavon Austin and Greg Robinson misfires notwithstanding. Defensive lineman Michael Brockers, cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson, right tackle Rob Havenstein and, more recently, wideout Cooper Kupp, safety John Johnson and inside linebacker Cory Littleton emerged via the draft-and-develop route. This trend continuing will keep the McVay-Goff machine running.

Snead managed to survive the Fisher-Sam Bradford period and form the current core. That's given the Rams a path almost no other team has: a 33-year-old coach, who's already shaping the NFL, overseeing a quarterback who is 2-for-3 in Pro Bowls.

Goff’s Super Bowl showing will cast doubt about his potential for perennial Pro Bowls and a possible Hall of Fame slot. But considering where the Rams were less than three years ago, how far they’ve come represents a historic turning point. It makes them one of the best bets to conquer a defining modern NFL challenge -- sustaining success with a top-market quarterback contract on their books.