What if the LA Rams were to trade WR Robert Woods

‘I’m listening’

A good NFL General Manager fields those calls, listens to what other teams might be willing to offer up. That’s their job – to assess the worth of the roster and evaluate potential upgrades at every position, player by player. Based on what the other guy’s willing to give up for your guy pegs your guy’s value. And LA Rams GM Les Snead is the Master of Mayhem, the Dynamo of Deal-making.  He loves a good offer.

Right now,  the value of Robert Woods is high, indeed. Perhaps he is at his peak in terms of what teams might be willing to offer the Rams for him? What team couldn’t use this kind of a difference-maker at wideout? After all, the 28-year-old Woods has been a consistent top-tier performer, notching three consecutive seasons of at least 85 catches and 900 receiving yards for the team.

He’s under contract through the 2025 season and scheduled to make $12.5 million in 2021, so he’d also represent a $12 million salary cap haircut in a trade. That alone is enough reason for the Rams to pause and ponder what comes next. Oh, but that Albert Breer knows how to light the fires to a good NFL rumor, doesn’t he?

Some trades for wide receivers truly do pay off

The Buffalo Bills needed a difference-maker and got one when the team traded for Minnesota Vikings WR Stefon Diggs. But that was an offer that was almost too good to pass up by the Vikings. The Bills traded first, fifth and sixth rounds of the 2020 NFL draft and a fourth-round pick in 2021. What if a team offered a first draft pick plus for Robert Woods?

After all, the sum of, as well as the individual pieces, all make complete sense. The LA Rams are way over their heads in the salary cap. Wide receiver Robert Woods is a valued asset on the Rams. In a trade scenario, the Rams would free up a ridiculous amount of cap space. And perhaps the kicker? NFL teams smell blood in the water. That’s right.

Teams like the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit Lions, the Seattle Seahawks, the LA Chargers, and many more have intimate knowledge of the Rams’ cap situation and would love to take advantage of the Rams in this fiscally stressed state.  So what about this trade, anyhow?