Recent trades show Rams more focused on winning now

This past week showed the Los Angeles Rams are more focused on winning now after seeing some of their recent trades.

After suffering their first three-game losing streak during the Sean McVay era during Week 6 after a loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Los Angeles Rams made quite a few splashes this past week leading up to their next contest against the Atlanta Falcons.

The recent slump that Los Angeles finds themselves in after coming up short in the Super Bowl last February has brought more questions than answers in 2019.

And after going from 3-0 to 3-3, the Rams front office didn’t want to waste any more time to address some glaring holes that appear to be holding Los Angeles back from living up to their true potential.

We all know by now that Les Snead and company are not as high on drafting players in the early rounds as most of the other teams across the league, but more so prefer to get proven players that are already experienced enough to make an immediate impact.

Take a look at last year for example when Rams fans saw the arrival of four former first-round picks in Brandin Cooks, Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib and Dante Fowler.

The season before that, Los Angeles acquired Sammy Watkins in a trade with the Buffalo Bills, showing once again their preference of proven players.

Based off this past week, it turns out the 2019 season will end up being no different, as they traded for three players before the trade deadline, and they might not be done yet.

On Tuesday, the Rams added a much-needed offensive lineman in Austin Corbett, a former second round guard from the University of Nevada, from the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a 2021 fifth-round pick.

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Later on that same afternoon, the front office decided to part ways with the two-time All-Pro in Peters, sending the cornerback to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for linebacker Kenny Young and a 2020 fourth-round pick.

To cap the day off, Los Angeles sent their 2020 and 2021 first-round picks plus a 2021 fourth-round pick to acquire the services of the All-Pro cornerback, Jalen Ramsey, who was previously selected as the fifth overall pick in 2016 from the Jacksonville Jaguars.

While these moves where eye-popping, it’s certainly a huge risk for the Rams to take, given their current 3-3 record, and trailing both the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West standings.

Now that Los Angeles has made the trades official, let’s grade each one to see how they look before the team’s Week 7 contest in Atlanta.

Austin Corbett

After respectively earning grades from Pro Football Focus of 89.8  and 81.4 from 2016-17 at Nevada, Corbett has struggled to bring the physical traits that made him a highly coveted offensive tackle in college to the NFL.

At 24, Corbett has played just 15 snaps over the last year and a half, playing most of them on special team.

But since Corbett is still a young player, and at a developmental point in his career, this could end up being a huge win for the Rams, given the lack of quality and depth they have shown at the position.

Not to mention, Los Angeles paid a mildly-low price to acquire him from the Browns to make it seem like it was worth the risk

Trade Grade: B

Marcus Peters for Kenny Young

This is a tough one personally since Peters came in last year with a fairly low price tag from the Kansas City Chiefs, and still played at a reasonable level, especially given the Talib injury situation.

Yes, opposing teams burned Peters a couple of times over the last two seasons, but his zone coverage skills are undeniable.

Peters, a 2020 free agent, would presumably ask for a pretty high-value contract in the offseason.

If this were to happen, and the Rams saw him end up on a different team in free agency, this could have prevented them from earning a third or fourth-round compensatory pick in 2021.

But instead of seeing how this could situation may have played out with Peters, the Rams decided to roll the dice a little sooner than expected by sending him to the Ravens in exchange for 2018 linebacker Kenny Young  along with another fourth-round pick in 2020.

Unfortunately, Young hasn’t exactly been the player most football fans expected him to be in the NFL, as he lacks the instincts and tackle ability needed to earn a starting spot in a regular NFL team roster

But for Los Angeles, the lack of depth and injury in yet another position made them pull the trigger for Young while depriving us of ever seeing what could have been one of the best duos at cornerback in Peters and Ramsey.

Trade Grade: D-

Jalen Ramsey

Ramsey is undeniably one of the best cornerbacks in the league, excelling mostly in man-to-man coverage, which Wade Phillips loves.

Clearly, Ramsey needs little to no introduction since  he ranks fourth in the league (90.9 grade) in coverage, fifth in completion percentage (53.8 percent) and eighth in passer rating (72.1), allowing just over 2,207 yards and just eight touchdowns (stats all pre-2019).

With all that said, Los Angeles gambled big here, and not because of the player, but because of the cost that had to be paid to get him here.

Being without a first rounder for two more seasons could be detrimental for the future development of the team, but if all goes well, it will all work out well for the Rams.

Then again, with the Rams currently sitting at 3-3, those picks could end up being more valuable than we think down the road.

Plus, not only could the draft picks be hurtful, but the amount of money Ramsey will most likely ask for as soon as next offseason will be massive, eyeing to break the bank of the $100 million mark.

For a team that already has four big contracts in Goff, Gurley, Cooks and Donald, the Rams will also need to pay other players soon such as Corey Littleton, Cooper Kupp and John Johnson.

Along with figuring out contracts for these players, Los Angeles may also need to find potential replacements for Talib and Andrew Whitworth as well.

In other words, salary cap experts will have their hands full the next few seasons, just to fix in-house contracts for the Rams.

Still, I think that Los Angeles got a crucial player in Ramsey at a crucial point of the year with the team facing a namely “softer” schedule in the next few weeks along with the bye week around the corner.

With all this in mind, Ramsey will have the time to adjust on the go, and to make some people happy in Los Angeles as well.

Trade Grade: B+ or B

After taking all of these grades into consideration, I don’t think that McVay and Snead are done this season in terms of trading, but they will need to be smart if they want this team to grow together for several years to come.