7 trades LA Rams increase 2020 NFL Draft picks and salary cap space

7 trades LA Rams can make to add 2020 NFL Draft picks and free up salary-cap space. The 2020 NFL Free Agency market is rapidly drying up.

In an unusual turn of events, the leading wheeler-and-dealer of blockbuster trades and moves, the LA Rams, has imposed a self-fasting of sorts from the banquet known as the 2020 NFL Free Agency market.

Well, perhaps a closer description is to identify the absence of the LA Rams from the midst of actively signing NFL free agents is that the team cannot afford the cover charge.  Funds are tight right now. So tight that the LA Rams could not afford to pick up the modestly priced option year for slot cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman.  Funds were so tight that the Rams could not afford to submit qualifying tender offers to DE Morgan Fox, DB Donte Deayon, and OLB Josh Carraway.

The team had options to do so. Both the team and highly paid players stood by and failed to restructure their current contracts, despite the fact that three of the top paid players suffered a serious decline in their production in 2019, yet remain highly compensated in 2020. Running back Todd Gurley was released outright.

But if the LA Rams will not restructure deals to free up cap space for 2020, then the team simply must open discussions over trading players. In fact, if any team was willing to take on a player’s salary cap hit, the Rams should be willing to listen.  The only player who the team should place off-limits is the certain future HOF’er defensive tackle Aaron Donald.

Trade 7 – Tight End Gerald Everett

The LA Rams have had exploratory discussions with former Washington Redskins’ tight end Jordan Reed.  In that period, we discussed a possible trade of what would be a surplus of tight ends. In that scenario, Gerald Everett would be a logical player to place on the trading block.

The reason?  Everett is a highly talented tight end on the team in his contract year. If the Rams coaching staff do not see him with a significant role worth re-signing him for 2021, the 2020 NFL Draft is light in tight end talent. The time to strike up a deal is now.

We have discussed this topic before. As of today, the Green Bay Packers are the most likely team to show interest in Everett. The Packers land a solid tight end, arguably more talented than any available in the 2020 NFL Draft, and get him on a cheap “prove-it” deal for his contract year.

The Rams will add a 2020 NFL Draft pick, clear nearly $1.3 million from the books, and eliminate the need to pay another veteran player with an expired contract next year. The vacancy will give the team a chance to see what tight end Ethan Wolfe brings to the team this year as well.  With another second-round pick, the Rams can stock up on the robust talent in this year’s draft, likely a defensive player who can compete immediately for starting minutes.

SALARY CAP FREED:  $1.289,244

Trade 6 – Running back Malcolm Brown

Running back Malcolm Brown is a solid player who simply does not seem to fit what the LA Rams want to do on offense. He is the type of runner who can get stronger over the course of a game. The only hiccup in that is the fact that he has not been given the ball often in any given game. So the Rams have created a catch-22. Brown doesn’t get more carries because he hasn’t earned more carries. But until he pounds the ball 25 times into the defense, he will likely not generate enough rushing yards to earn more carries.

The resulting impasse is not good for either Brown nor the Rams. All the while the team carries his salary in a role he truly does not fit.  Brown would benefit greatly from a new team willing to give him a chance to carry the ball more often. Perhaps one of the committee-running-back teams would be interested in a set of fresh veteran legs to add to their offense.

Per NFL.com, the Chicago Bears, Las Vegas Raiders, and Philadelphia Eagles are in need of an inexpensive NFL veteran running back in advance of the 2020 NFL Draft.

or if the team is the Chicago Bears

However, this scenario plays out, the LA Rams pick up a day three pick and reclaim $1.1 million in 2020 salary cap space. The team can draft a young running back from the 2020 NFL Draft class. The trading partner, either the Raiders or the Bears, get a known NFL veteran for a specific role on the team, and without the concerns of rookies failing to make the transition to the NFL.

SALARY CAP FREED: $1,100,000

Trade 5 – Wide receiver Josh Reynolds

The LA Rams have a chance to walk out of the 2020 NFL Draft with a young, talented, and inexpensive wide receiver from a day three selection. If the team does so, then the team will have an excess of wide receiver talent on the team. While Brandin Cooks is the more logical choice to move, Reynolds may be the easier receiver to trade to another team.  After all, he can stretch a field, has no injury history, and can immediately impact the offense and special teams.

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While the Rams fans may want to “keep him” to virtually every player on the current roster, the reality is that the team is out of flexibility right now. No cap space is forcing this LA Rams team to enter the 2020 NFL Draft with a shopping list of “gotta get”s who may or may not be there by the time the Rams step up to the podium.

The LA Rams are motivated to move Reynolds if the team leans more toward Brandin Cooks, does not intend to re-sign Reynolds to a new contract in 2021, or simply feels the market for a fast wide receiver is at a peak right now.

NFL.com indicates the Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, and Indianapolis Colts as teams in the market for a veteran wide receiver.  For the Packers trade, it’s essentially the same deal as the one for Everett. However, the Houston Texans could be willing to deal for the Rams’ Reynolds.

As before, the LA Rams land two solid draft picks, as well as clear $3.23 million from the books for 2020. The Houston Texans add both a veteran wide receiver and running back to the offense, both at a starting-caliber, and can then use the remainder of their draft picks to improve the overall talent for the team.

SALARY CAP FREED: $3.233,000

Trade 4 – Right tackle Rob Havenstein

Some believe that right tackle Rob Havenstein will return to his Super Bowl form in 2020. Others are more skeptical.  But both sides can agree that the team would be well served to free up $7 million of salary-cap space he will earn in 2020, that the Rams seemed to do fine with rookie Bobby Evans at right tackle, and that the Rams appear to be in the midst of a getting younger phase on the offensive line.

Rob Havenstein has created a difficult situation for the LA Rams right now. He had a disappointing 2019 season and afterward was lost for the season on injured reserve. So whether the team has concerns about a player who may be running out of gas or a player who will struggle to return to his prime after injury, the team has valid reasons for having those concerns.

And they do. Without the ability to confirm a player’s health, the Rams are in a bit of a hard place. The team discovered young players could eventually step up a year ago and can play for much less. Since the Rams need every bit of cost savings, the team could place Havenstein on the trade block.

Rob Havenstein has something to prove in 2020. He will get his chance for the Washington Redskins, while the LA Rams will clear cap space and pick up a pair of day 3 draft picks.

SALARY CAP FREED: $5,400,000

Trade 3 – Tight End Tyler Higbee

Tyler Higbee was the player who jumped out in the last four games of the 2019 NFL Season, proving he was worth the significant pay increase. But if the LA Rams are confident in Gerald Everett’s ability to be nearly equal to Higbee, the Rams would be far better served to free up the $8 million slated to be earned by Higbee in 2020.

If Everett can duplicate Higbee’s breakout performance, then it does fall to the reason for the LA Rams to explore trading the more marketable tight end. So what would a Tyler Higbee fetch in the 2020 market? Well, the 2020 NFL Draft class for tight ends is not very robust.

That makes the market for a young talented tight end rather favorable for the seller.  As of right now, the Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers could be in the market for a top talent tight-end.  Curiously, it’s the New England Patriots who trade for Tyler Higbee.   The Rams want the equivalence of a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, and the New England Patriots cave at the last minute.

The net effect of this trade is the LA Rams getting the draft value of a late first-round pick, and free up over $6.225 million in salary-cap space. While this does not add draft picks for the Rams, the quality of a first-round versus a third-round is significant.  A first-round pick at 23 allows the Rams the opportunity to pick for a day one starter at either offense or defensive critical positions.

SALARY CAP FREED: $6,225,000

Trade 2 – Wide Receiver Brandin Cooks

Some believe that wide receiver Brandin Cooks will be able to bounce back in 2020. But even if he does, will it warrant his salary, where he is paid to be one of the NFL’s best?  Brandin Cooks will be compensated as the eighth wide receiver in 2020. The eighth-ranked receiver in 2019 was Amari Cooper, who caught 1,189 yards, eight touchdowns, and boasted a completion rate of 66.4 percent.

On a team like the LA Rams, who already have two other 1,000 yard receivers in Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp, that’s unlikely.  Realizing that Cooks’s upside is capped as long as the Rams have more versatile receivers Kuppp and Woods on the field, Cooks on the trading block makes sense.

Of course, which NFL team needs a speedster at wide receiver?  The New York Jets have speculated on a trade package for Brandin Cooks with a conditional pick. The reality is that the LA Rams need 2020 Draft picks, and the New York Jets need a wide receiver.

In this scenario, the LA Rams get the NY Jets round-three pick.  The Jets get the Rams’ 2021 6th round pick if Cooks fails to play in 50 percent of the Jets offensive snaps.

SALARY CAP FREED: (Post June 1) $12,000,0009

Trade 1 – Quarterback Jared Goff

If the LA Rams are going to commit to improving the team, then all players not receiving successive All-Pro designations must be on the trading block. The LA Rams were quick to pay quarterback Jared Goff a king’s ransom after appearing in Super Bowl LIII but discovered in 2019 that Goff’s performance was far more dependant upon his offensive line and the running game than originally thought.

if the Rams are going to swallow the poison pill and clean up the hideous contracts once and for all, then the Jared Goff contract has to be on the trading block.  Are any of the 2020 NFL Draft talent quarterbacks worth a franchise tag designation?

The 2019 NFL season may have opened up the eyes for the LA Rams coaching staff. If the team no longer believes that Jared Goff can elevate the play of his teammates, then they should part ways now rather than later.  Of course, any trade of the team’s franchise quarterback in 2020 eliminates the team from a strong chance at making the playoffs this year.  But isn’t that the sentiment already based on the LA Rams absence from the 2020 NFL Free Agency market, but instead are focusing on 2021 comp picks? If so, the team needs to find a team with high draft picks plus plenty of cap space. Two teams have a top 10 pick in 2020, and enough cap space to take on Goff’s contract: the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Redskins. Of course, the Redskins also have an issue with LT Trent Williams. Perhaps the Rams can help?

In this trade scenario, the Washington Redksins get their QB of the future in Jared Goff. The LA Rams shed tremendous cap space, and have the opportunity to choose second in the 2020 NFL Draft, which would likely land the team Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa, plus an anchor at left tackle. Would Washington Redskins go for this? With the way the Trent Williams issue has escalated, this may be the only option for the team to save face.

SALARY CAP FREED: (Post June 1) $19,042,682

In 2020, the LA Rams can ride out the storm, hope the stars paid in 2020 perform accordingly, and the rest of the roster steps up as best as they can. No frills. No blockbuster trades. Just a vanilla offseason. But if the coaching staff is uncertain as to the quality of the roster, particularly at some of the higher paid roles, then this is the time to make the change, retool the roster, and aim at a 2021 playoff push.