While a splash move wasn’t necessarily expected, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if general manager Les Snead and the Los Angeles Rams had pulled something off on the day of the trade deadline. Instead, the biggest move was the Rams signing a long snapper to the practice squad.
The Seattle Seahawks made a move for Rashid Shaheed to add explosiveness to an already explosive offense. Sam Darnold has been one of the best deep-ball throwers in the NFL this season. The Indianapolis Colts made a move for Sauce Gardner to help bolster their defense. Additionally, the Dallas Cowboys acquired Quinnen Williams from the Jets.
This isn’t to say that the Rams should have made a move because the Cowboys did. Following in the footsteps of Jerry Jones is likely not in the best interest of other NFL general managers. The Cowboys sit at 3-5-1 and should have been sellers more than buyers. That’s not a team set up to make a playoff run. Under Snead, the Rams have had good self-awareness of where they are as a franchise.
That’s also why not making a move is relatively surprising. The addition of Roger McCreary certainly counts, but it may not have been the type of move that some were expecting. It’s also smart that the Rams didn’t make a splash move simply for the sake of it. The Rams were good enough to win the Super Bowl before the trade deadline and they are still good enough to win it after the trade deadline.
It’s hard to know what trade options were even on the table for the Rams. While it’s fun to discuss trades for Brian Thomas Jr. or Jaylen Waddle, we don’t know what calls were and weren’t made or who was actually available and what the asking price was. All we can do is speculate.
Still, at 7-2, the Colts put everything behind Daniel Jones having a career year and traded for a top-level cornerback. With the Seahawks at 6-2 and lacking explosiveness outside of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, they added Shaheed with two day three draft picks.
The Rams were the rare Super Bowl contender who should have been ‘all in’ on this year. With Matthew Stafford playing at the level that he is at 37 years old, it makes sense to try and capture that lightning in a bottle moment. An argument can be made that the Rams should have done more to capitalize on this window and explored any and all avenues to win a championship this season.
Chris Ballard put more behind helping Jones and the Colts this year than the Rams did Stafford. When the Rams have been in a Super Bowl window, they’ve never just taken the stand pat approach. In 2018, the Rams acquired Dante Fowler Jr. Fowler Jr. played a key role in the Rams getting to the Super Bowl. When the Rams won in 2021, they traded for Von Miller. Miller was a critical piece in the postseason and the Super Bowl win.
This has been the best Rams team statistically in the Sean McVay era. Through nine weeks, their DVOA sits at 36.5%. For reference, DVOA is a method of evaluating teams. It takes every single play during the NFL season and compares each one to a league-average baseline based on situation. Essentially, the Rams this season have been 36.5% above league average. For reference, the Rams were at 29.5% through nine weeks in 2021 and 26.8% in 2018.
For the Rams to sit back at the trade deadline and not do anything isn’t necessarily disappointing, but a move to signify how committed they are to this year would have been telling. By not doing anything, it seems to signify that the Rams want to get as much as they can with what’s left in Stafford’s tank, but they aren’t going to borrow from significant future assets to do so.
Whether or not that’s the right choice will be seen. However, it’s worth noting how easily teams have been giving away first-round picks. In a draft that was supposed to be a great quarterback class and good class overall has not turned out that way.
The Colts were happy to give up a first-round pick in 2026 for Gardner. Back in late-August, the Green Bay Packers gave up a 2026 first-round pick for Micah Parsons. Four teams will have multiple first-round picks next year. If there was more confidence in the talent-level in the first round, general managers likely would not give them up as easily.
Part of the reason for the Rams acquiring a second round pick was to give them ammo in a good quarterback class. However, LaNorris Sellers hasn’t taken a step forward as some expected. Additionally, Arch Manning is likely returning to Texas. That doesn’t mention Garrett Nussmeier, Cade Klubnik, and Drew Allar all disappointing as well. There simply may not be a quarterback worth taking to sit behind Stafford.
Again, this isn’t to say that the Rams made the wrong decision by standing pat at the trade deadline. This is still one of the top contenders in the NFL. At the same time, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have been nice to see the Rams commit more to this window with how Stafford is currently playing.
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