LA Rams revisit 2016 NFL Draft blockbuster Jared Goff trade

The LA Rams dealt a blockbuster trade with the Tenessee Titans in 2016 to draft starter QB Jared Goff. But how does that trade look years later?

Are the LA Rams partially responsive for the Tennessee Titans’ appearance in the AFC Championship to face the Kansas City Chiefs?  Perhaps.  But it’s not simply a cause and effect.  You see, the Rams helped the Titans, and the Titans helped the Rams in 2016.  But many events have occurred for both teams since that trade.

The 2016 outlook for the LA Rams was not exactly rosy and optimistic. The team had just finished a lackluster 7-9 season, struggled for any type of production out of the quarterback position, were moving from St. Louis back to Los Angeles, and were still led by head coach Jeff Fisher.  The Rams needed a fresh start, a new face of the franchise, someone new to the Rams but who would be forever Los Angeles.  General Manager Les Snead knew who he wanted – quarterback prospect Jared Goff.  He just didn’t know have an easy path to get him.

The order for the 2016 NFL Draft was prescribed by inverse order of how teams finished that season.  For 2016, the order was set as (1) Tennessee Titans, (2) Cleveland Browns, (3) San Diego Chargers, (4) Dallas Cowboys, (5) Jacksonville Jaguars, (6) Baltimore Ravens, (7) San Francisco 49ers, (8) Miami Dolphins, (9) Tampa Bay Buccaneers, (10) New York Giants, (11) Chicago Bears, (12) New Orleans Saints, (13) Philadelphia Eagles, (14) Oakland Raiders, and finally (15) the St. Louis Rams.

To get Goff, the Rams had to scale the equivalent of Mount Rushmore, in essence, the LA Rams needed to offer the Tennessee Titans a package deal they could not refuse: which the Titans did not.  The Rams packaged six NFL Draft picks, and received three picks in return.

To move from 15 to first, the NFL Draft exacts a heavy toll. The Rams took the gamble, and it paid off handsomely.