Lions, Patriots, Browns and Packers enjoying LA Rams 2022 struggles

Even as the LA Rams struggle this season, the Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, and Green Bay Packers are enjoying the show. No, they are not just trolling the LA Rams organization. You see, all four teams have a vested interest in the LA Rams’ 2023 NFL Draft picks, and the worse the Rams play this year, the more valuable those picks become on draft day.

What do I mean?

Well, each year the NFL allows seven draft picks to each team, one in each round. As you know, the LA Rams have not hesitated to trade any available draft picks for players in the past. It just so happens that the Lions, Patriots, Browns, and Packers hold the title of one of the LA Rams draft picks in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Future draft picks used to improve the present-day roster

As the LA Rams compete throughout the 2022 NFL season, their record of wins and losses not only determines the chance to compete in the NFL Playoffs but becomes the basis of setting the order of when NFL teams select in the next NFL Draft.  To infuse a competitive edge, the best NFL teams choose last. Conversely, the teams with the worst regular season records pick first.

Normally, that gives bad teams a chance to improve their roster rather quickly and compete for a playoff berth the following season. Unfortunately, that really does not apply to the LA Rams this season. In their zest to improve the 2021 Rams roster, the Rams liberally traded away draft picks for players, two of whom are no longer on the Rams roster.

While the exchange for OLB Von Miller was made with 2022 NFL Draft picks, the Rams’ acquisition of both QB Matthew Stafford and RB Sony Michel impacted their 2023 NFL Draft as well.

How so? Let’s examine the Rams traded picks: