Time for LA Rams and Houston Texans to talk trade for OT Tunsil?

Do the LA Rams have the makings of another trade partner? Should they? Never say never when it comes to the LA Rams and a potential NFL headliner trade.

The NFL is a curious professional sport. During the season, all teams are expected to compete as hard as they can. But in the off-season, those same teams can self-assess and determine that they will not field a competitive football team. That is what appears to be taking place with the Houston Texans this year.

Of course, it was that same assessment and rebuild/reboot which prompted the Detroit Lions to place veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford on the trade block. In the exchange with the Rams, the Lions claimed quarterback Jared Goff, a 2021 third-round draft pick,  a 2022 first-round draft pick, and a 2023 first-round draft pick.

The LA Rams, now led by Stafford, proceeded to follow a trek that greatly resembled that of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the previous year, losing five regular-season games, and proceeded to win four consecutive games and hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

So what could be next in line for the LA Rams? What about trading for a rather accomplished left tackle? Of course, we are talking about trading for Houston Texans offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil.

So the only question is whether the Rams have enough oomph to make a deal like that feasible? Well, there are reasons to believe that the Rams could pull off a deal.

This has Les Snead written all over it.

Doable, but unlikely

Per a Bleacher report article on the topic, author Maurice Morton indicates that the LA Rams would only be on the hook for $9.5 million of Tunsil’s salary if they trade for him. That’s half of what the LA Rams are looking at if Andrew Whitworth remains with the team for one more season.

So the only question left is can the team scrape together enough intrinsic value to make it worth the Texans’ time? That’s where it gets a bit dicey. We know that the LA Rams draft picks are all but exhausted of value for the 2022 NFL Draft. But future drafts are not nearly as depleted. Could the LA Rams offer a package of multi-year picks, culminating in a first-round pick in 2024?

While that may not ‘feel’ as competitive as some offers that are expected for Tunsil, that should not prevent the Rams from making the effort. The LA Rams have made it a point to get top-shelf at key positions on the football field, and Laremy Tunsil would certainly qualify as one of the best offensive tackles in the NFL if Andrew Whitworth retires.

Nobody saw the LA Rams trading for QB Matthew Stafford a year ago. Fortune favors the bold. Adding Tunsil to the Rams offensive line for 2022 would certainly be a bold, and quite fortunate, move.