LA Rams Rumors: Solve WR logjams by trading assets for Julio Jones

How many receivers do the LA Rams have on their roster right now? Too many. A Brazilian. Actually, I think it’s 16 when you place the number of tight ends next to the number of wide receivers, but the day is not over yet.

And the rumor news on the Atlanta Falcons’ WR Julio Jones trade front is still, well, crickets.

But there was a small disturbance. This fellow from the NFL Network chimed in with his belief that the LA Rams should make a play for Julio. NFL Network’s Peter Shrager says that the LA Rams should go after Julio

Shrager said the entire ethos of this Rams team since head coach Mcvay arrived on the scene was to be aggressive. If ethos is another way to say “throw the ball,” then I suppose that much is true.

During Jones’ best seasons as a pass-catcher for the Falcons, his wide receivers coach was (drum roll) Raheem Morris. The same guy who is now the Rams defensive coach. And the LA Rams have not hidden the fact that they value the insight of coaches in determining who to add to their roster.

So there’s a connection, albeit one of those six degrees of separation kind of connections. Still, trades have happened in the NFL on less. Much less to be honest.

Los Angeles Rams

How does a team with no first-round draft pick and virtually no cap space swing a deal for a bonafide top-ranked NFL wide receiver like Jones?

The Rams have assets. You have to give up something good to get something good (and possibly better) back in return.

And Jones can still be the Number-one-ranked wide receiver in this league, especially if he gets to hook up with a proven veteran quarterback whose own “ethos” is to throw the ball around the track a bit. Put some air underneath the football.

So the biggest holdup in any calculation is the salary cap. Yes, that beast for the Rams is like the leaders of Hydra. Eliminate one, two more will rise to take its place. And yes, the fact is that Julio Jones is most definitely a highly compensated player. But the Rams have a few tricks left in their bag of emergency cap space.  The salary cap, as you may have learned by now, is not rigid enough to prevent a motivated team to trade for or sign the player the organization wants.

Go ahead Atlanta: Pick one of the LA Rams receivers, any receiver, and aside from a few untouchables on the roster, whatever other players suit your fancy, too. Whatever draft picks we have in future years, you can have a couple of those, too. The reported asking price for Jones is a first-round pick. While the LA Rams do not have one of those, they have the equivalent of one. So the Rams could deal two second-round picks: one in 2022 and one in 2024.

Because that’s the Rams modus operandi now, isn’t it? Live for the moment, live in the moment.

That’s never seemed to stop this team before from hammering out something creative.

The Rams are a great fit for Julio Jones.  Of course, 30 other NFL teams think they are a great fit, too. Oh, but what a Rams-like move it would be to land Julio.