Why win-now LA Rams could trade for Julio Jones

Fortune favors the bold. After everything has been said and done, it’s the risk-takers that seem to get the best results. Those who would put the most on the line that ends up getting the most in return.  High-stakes wagers get the biggest pots. Yada yada yada. Right now, the LA Rams are all about 2021. Nothing more. Nothing less.

If you are of the opinion that the LA Rams are good to go on the wide receiver front, and need not trade for the former superstar of the Atlanta Falcons, you are not alone.  I myself have written an article as soon as the first whispers of a rumor linking the LA Rams to Julio Jones, and it was titled 3 reasons why the LA Rams must be No Julio. I haven’t changed my mind. I think that the LA Rams have invested too heavily into the wide receiver position already.

But that doesn’t create blind spots in my comprehension for valid reasons behind the move.  The LA Rams had Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Josh Reynolds, Gerald Everett, Tyler Higbee, and Van Jefferson through 2020, and went 10-6. They were stopped by the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs. Sure, they had Jared Goff. Sure they lost Cooper Kupp late in the season. Yes, two leaders in Andrew Whitworth and Aaron Donald played at less than 100 percent. But it will be the same in 2021.

All-in means everything is committed

The trouble with going all-in for any singular season is the seemingly reckless abandon approach from the Rams front office to throw all caution to the wind and focus upon winning today. Aaron Donal just turned 30 years old. Andrew Whitworth will ponder retirement soon. How long can the LA Rams keep Matthew Stafford under contract if they don’t win?

The hourglass for the Rams flipped at the moment the Rams traded a huge package of compensation to the Detroit Lions to win Stafford in a bidding war. If the Rams believe, truly believe, that adding Julio Jones gives the offense a new dimension, more potency, or simply a better chance of winning, then the team needs to seize the opportunity to do so.

Los Angeles Rams

I’m personally not in favor of the move, but I’m in favor of the LA Rams doing the right moves to improve the team. So yes, I get it. If Van Jefferson is the key to prying Julio Jones from the Falcons, do you truly believe that the Rams will get as much out of Jefferson against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they would with Julio Jones?  Does anyone truly believe that DeSean Jackson will remain healthy for 20 consecutive NFL games through the 2021 NFL season and through the playoffs?

Where are the LA Rams right now?

So here’s where it stands. Rumors are heating up over Julio Jones being traded on or after June 1, 2021. Rams rumors linking the team to Julio Jones are heating up as well. Jalen Ramsey is recruiting Julio Jones to the Rams. He would know more than anyone just how good Jones is right now.

I’m not going to cheer for it to happen, but if it does happen, I will cheer the move. After all, I understand what is driving the LA Rams right now. The team believes the window of winning is now. I may see a different path to winning, but I can appreciate any effort towards that goal. I don’t need the Rams to think like me to get a round of applause for a job well done. Magic is entertaining because it surprises the senses.  Wow the NFL, Les Snead.

The Rams traded for Matthew Stafford to win in 2021.  If the team truly wanted to win in 2025, Jared Goff was the better option. And it’s that win-now mentality that is very compelling to the LA Rams right now and could coerce the Rams to make one more trade.