Los Angeles Rams News & Rumors

If the Broncos have been the premier deadline sellers of this period, the Rams are probably the most memorable buyers. Previously unwavering in its commitment to load up the roster, Los Angeles swung a few splashy deals during Sean McVay‘s tenure.

The team traded two first-round picks for Jalen Ramsey in 2019, sent second- and third-rounders for Von Miller in 2021, dealt third- and fifth-rounders for Dante Fowler in 2018 and acquired three-year guard starter Austin Corbett on the day of the Ramsey swap. The Rams attempted to venture into deep waters again last year, but the Panthers turned down a two-first-rounder offer for Brian Burns. L.A. is expected to proceed more cautiously this year.

The Rams, who also battled the 49ers for Christian McCaffrey last October, stripped their roster of several Super Bowl LVI starters this offseason. As could be expected, McVay is not expecting his team to operate like it has at past deadlines.

“No, we don’t really have the availability,” McVay said. “I don’t know; you kind of have to have some resources and different things like that for those to be options. So, I don’t know that those conversations will be as prevalent as maybe in years past.”

Although the Rams are 2-3, they have played the unbeaten Eagles and 49ers close and dropped another one-score game to the Bengals. Widely expected to go through a rebuilding year, McVay’s squad should not exactly be considered out of the wild-card chase. Though, it is still obviously early.

The Rams are also on track to enter a draft with a first-round pick for the first time in McVay’s tenure. They most recently held a first-rounder in 2016, when the Jared Goff trade-up commenced in Jeff Fisher‘s final year as HC. The trades for Goff, Brandin Cooks, Ramsey and Matthew Stafford — along with a 2019 move out of Round 1 — led to the Rams’ streak of draft Thursdays off.

Los Angeles has made two seller trades to start the season, sending Cam Akers to Minnesota and Van Jefferson to Atlanta. Both Super Bowl LVI starters had seen their roles decrease. Jefferson played just two snaps in Week 5. The emergences of Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell changed the equation for the Rams, with The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue indicating the team rebuffed Jefferson trade inquiries this spring. With Nacua on a historic rookie-year pace an Atwell showing promise after displaying little through two seasons, the Rams began to line up a Jefferson trade weeks ago, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones adds.

With Jefferson gone, the Rams still have Ben Skowronek, Demarcus Robinson and third-year UDFA Austin Trammell on the 53-man roster as backups. But after Jefferson started the team’s first four games, which came with Cooper Kupp on IR, no doubt exists about the team’s top three going forward.

A key auxiliary target for Matthew Stafford during the Rams’ Super Bowl LVI-winning season, Van Jefferson has seen younger wideouts vault past him in the current team’s aerial pecking order. The second-generation NFL wide receiver may not be in Los Angeles much longer.

The Rams are shopping the contract-year wideout, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes. A former second-round pick, Jefferson is now behind Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell. With Cooper Kupp back, the Rams have a fairly established top three at the position. Nacua and Atwell becoming promising Kupp sidekicks is a welcome development for the Rams, who saw both Kupp and Jefferson battle injuries last season.

Jefferson sustained a knee injury early during the Rams’ 2022 training camp, undergoing surgery to repair the issue. The Rams had held out hope the operation would allow Jefferson to return at some point last September, but the team delayed the Florida alum’s return by placing him on IR after multiple weeks went by. Although Jefferson came back and played in 11 games during his third season, he only caught 24 passes for 369 yards. While one of those was a touchdown to complete a stunning Baker Mayfield-piloted 98-yard drive to cap a comeback over the Raiders, Jefferson’s stock has dipped since he served as the team’s No. 3 option behind Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. two seasons ago.

After teetering on bust status, Atwell has belatedly emerged in the Rams’ WR3 role. The undersized pass catcher — a 2021 second-round pick — has caught 24 passes for 279 yards. Kupp’s injury did not end up accelerating a Jefferson contract-year breakthrough; the former No. 50 overall selection has eight receptions for 108 yards and no touchdowns. This comes as Nacua continued his historic start in Week 5. Despite Kupp’s return, Nacua’s first-month surge persisted; the fifth-round rookie now has an NFL-high 46 catches for 572 yards.

The Bears were able to send the underperforming Chase Claypool to the Dolphins, but the 2020 second-rounder only brought a pick-swap trade with the Dolphins. Although Jefferson caught six touchdown passes during his promising second season — a 50-catch, 802-yard year in which he helped the Rams cover for Robert Woods‘ ACL tear — his performance since will likely not inspire a team to give up more than a late-round pick.

Sean McVay’s team has some recent history dealing wideouts as well. Since April 2020, they have dealt three starters at the position, revamping Kupp’s supporting cast. The third team to trade Brandin Cooks, the Rams collected a second-rounder in a deal in which they sent the Texans Cooks and a fourth. The other two Rams receiver trades are probably more relevant here. The team sent Woods to the Titans for a 2024 seventh-round pick and paid part of Allen Robinson‘s salary to move up 17 spots in this year’s seventh round. Jefferson can probably fetch L.A. a bit more than the Woods and Robinson swaps did, as he is on a $1.37MM base salary to close out a rookie contract.