3 challenges LA Rams must address this offseason

“All in” fell short for the LA Rams in 2019. Now what are the ramifications as the team enters 2020?

The Los Angeles Rams were not very patient during the 2019 NFL season. As the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks started off by taking a commanding lead of the NFC West, the front office of the Rams went all-in to jumpstart the team’s chances.  They did so by leveraging a series of trades.  Mid-season trades can do one of two things: improve the team dramatically, or complicate the teams future.

The first path is the hoped-for result of changing the team dynamics to the better.  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen for the Rams.  In fact, the Rams may be more responsible for helping the Baltimore Ravens to emerge as the 2019 NFL juggernaut going into the playoffs.

The LA Rams wanted to trade for Jacksonville Jaguars star cornerback Jalen Ramsey after their own cornerback Aqib Talib was placed onto injured reserve. But to do so, that meant the team needed to carve out salary cap space.  The team did so by trading cornerback Marcus Peters to the Baltimore Ravens for promising linebacker Kenny Young. That trade returned Young plus a fifth round draft pick in 2020.

The idea was well founded. Create cap space for an alpha cornerback by shedding a sometimes good, sometimes not corner. A risk, but certainly a necessary risk to free up sufficient cap space to afford Ramsey.