4 players the LA Rams could trade before the deadline

Trade scenario IV: A’Shawn Robinson

While there may be some upside yet to come for defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson, the LA Rams have a lot of young promising defensive linemen on deck. And make no mistake, Robinson is playing well enough. He simply is not playing often enough to warrant his $5.25 million salary cap expense in 2021.

I like Robinson a lot. I think he is far more dependable and impactful than he is getting credit for. He is a big strong defender in the line of scrimmage who not only can even the odds but can stop blockers from moving him off the line long enough for him to tackle the ball carrier.

The challenge right now is the fact that the Rams have another strong powerful defensive lineman in Greg Gaines, and a few young defensive linemen in Michael Hoecht and Jonah Williams, all of whom are itching for more playing time. And a trade before the deadline, per OverTheCap.com, could save the organization nearly $3.75 million.

Trading Robinson alone would nearly double the Rams free money.

Of course, the trick of any trade is to find a willing trade partner. But as the play of Robinson has been effective and economical, the Rams should be able to garner some interest relatively quickly. And Robinson is only entering his sixth NFL season, making him young enough to fit on the rosters of even rebuilding teams.

Trading these four players could save the Rams as much as $6 million from their current salary cap, creating space for over $10 million. Surely that could and would be enough to consider a trade to add a significant contributor to the Rams roster if that is the ultimate goal right now.

Who might the Rams consider trading for to boost the team before the trade deadline? While we do not yet know, we do know one thing. The options at over $10 million in free salary cap space are far more numerous than at only $4 million of free salary cap space.