Rams no longer have to worry about Antonio Brown joining NFC West

After the Oakland Raiders agreed to a trade for Antonio Brown, it looks like the Los Angeles Rams no longer have to worry about the wideout playing in the NFC West.

For weeks, the Los Angeles Rams were wondering if Antonio Brown would somehow end up in the NFC West after previously being linked to teams like the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals.

While the 49ers decided early on to pass on Brown teaming up with Jimmy Garoppolo, the Cardinals turned out to be a surprise team expressing interest, mainly because they still aren’t exactly sure who will be their quarterback under center in 2019.

Turns out, neither one of these teams will be seeing Brown join their roster for the upcoming season now that the Pittsburgh Steelers have finally found a new trade partner in the Oakland Raiders.

All of a sudden, Derek Carr seems to have a new favorite target to work with in Brown, and the best part about all this for the Rams is the team no longer has to worry about facing the wideout twice a year in the NFC West.

Many will criticize the Steelers for only getting a third and fifth-round pick in return for Brown, but also keep in mind that a big factor of this deal was the hefty pay raise he will be receiving from the Raiders.

Either way, Los Angeles could care less about the new contract Brown will be receiving from Oakland as a result of the trade since the only thing that matters to them is how the speedster didn’t land in the NFC West.

Over the last two years, the Rams have established a reputation for themselves as the team to beat in the division, and while Brown most likely wouldn’t have changed much on their end, it still could have been a factor at some point.

Also, since Los Angeles doesn’t officially face Oakland during the 2019 season, it looks like the only chance Brown has at facing the Rams will be if they happen to meet in the Super Bowl, which seems unlikely since the Raiders are still far from being a serious contender in the AFC.

As for whether the Rams will still have to worry about the 49ers or Cardinals landing another big-name receiver before next season officially gets underway, well let’s just say it will be an interesting next few weeks now that free agency is about to start.