How the LA Rams brick house survived another huff and puff from NFL Rumors wolf

The LA Rams are no strangers to NFL rumors. Because their strategy has included successfully navigating trades for some of the biggest NFL stars in the past: Like Jalen Ramsey, Von Miller, and even Matthew Stafford, the trade deadline acts like an annual alarm clock to wake up NFL insiders and fans to check out what the Rams and GM Les Snead are up to. Gambling is in Snead's DNA. No, not the foolish garden variety. Nothing like that.

Snead, for all of his boyish southern charm, is as shrewd as they come. He picks up every phone call inquiring about his players, or with the intent to discuss trading for a new veteran player, knowing what his final offer will be. If there is some interest, great. If there is no interest? Toodle-loo.

The Rams seem to be open to any trade offers, at least in terms of listening to them. After all, it's just data, more information to enter into their data analytics algorithm.

But that type of 'Okay, let's hear the offer,' does require a lot of instantly accessible information, a cool, calm, and collected demeanor, and a strong sense of self-confidence to know exactly where the line in any negotiation must be drawn. Rams GM Les Snead checks all of those boxes.

Unlike the lawyerly personna of Philadelphia Eagles GM Howie Roseman, who exudes an aura of negotiation from the moment he extends his hand and asks 'How are you?', Snead has a disarming manner of neighborly backyard barbecue in him. Unless you enter the conversation knowing exactly how smart Les Snead is, you can hold an hour long conversation with him and think he is just a good guy. But in reality, you've just shared your life history.

Don't read between the lines. While I am often in awe of the Rams general manager, and his ability to make the most impossible trades possible, I am not suggesting that he is perfect. In fact, it's his willingness to attempt bad deals that makes me so in awe of him. He has that riverboat's gabler streak of luck that completes deals that aid the team, but which also prevents inking deals that will not stand the scrutiny of 20/20 hindsight.

Confused? Here's what I mean:

The Rams have been saved from themselves quite a few times

In 2022, the LA Rams were desperate to win games. After all, they were the defending Super Bowl LVI Champions, and the belief after that remarkable 2021 NFL season was that this team had at least one more victory in them. Well, they didn't. But that did not stop the team from ringing up the Carolina Panthers in hopes of prying two star players from their roster.

Scenario III - The Rams attempted to trade for RB Christian McCaffrey. However, the San Francisco 49ers offered an alternative that the Panthers brass preferred. They sent 2023 NFL draft picks in Rounds 2, 3, and 4, and a 2024 NFL Draft pick in Round 5, for McCaffrey. Since that trade, the 49ers have gotten 1.5 seasons out of him. Right now, he has been injured and unable to suit up. He has carried the football 431 times for the 49ers, putting up 2,205 yards and 20 touchdowns.

He has earned over $10 million with the 49ers so far, but is slated to pull in another $64 millions from the 49ers by the end of his contract, which currently runs through 2028

Instead, the Rams have featured RB Kyren Williams. He has carried the football 402 times for 1,816 yards and 20 touchdowns, and he is still running in 2024. Kyren Williams' contract will pay out $3.8 million and expire at the end of 2025.

Scenario II - The Rams tried to pry Edge Rusher Brian Burns from the Panthers in 2022. Once again, the Panther rejected the offer, reportedly a Round 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and Rounds 1 and 2 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. Instead, the Panthers thought better. Just months later, they agreed to part ways with Burns for the New York Giants for Round 2 and 4 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, and a Round 5 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Burns had 8.0 QB sacks and 50 tackles in 2023.

He earned $16 million in 2023, and is now on track to earn $141 million with the Giants through 2028.

Instead, the Rams drafted OLB Byron Young. Young put up 8.0 QB sacks and 61 tackles in 2023. Best of all, he is signed to a rookie contract that will only pay out $5.6 million through 2026. Once again, same production at a fraction of the price.

Scenario I - During the 2024 NFL Draft, the LA Rams wanted to trade up from their 19th overall pick. Their targets? Well, it wasn't OLB Jared Verse. It was either Georgia rookie tight end prospect Brock Bowers, or Texas defensive tackle prospect Byron Murphy II. When no trade partner willing to trade back to 19 appeared, the team settled in to select Florida State outside linebacker Jared Verrse.

While both TE Brock Bowers and DT Byron Murphy are certainly talented rookies, neither is having a season that even closely compares to that of OLB Jared Verse. Whereas Murphy has 10 tackles and 0.5 quarterback sacks, Verse has 29 tackles and 2.5 QB sacks. And the Rams, despite pursuing Bowers, have three and soon-to-be four tight ends who all seem to be sharing the workload.

So were the Rams listening to offers for Cooper Kupp? Does it matter, now?

Snead was doing his job

Let's pretend that we can in fact go back in time to the conclusion of Week 5. The Rams were no better than 1-4, had lost several winnable games, and were limping into the BYE. Despite fans lobbying hard for personnel changes on the football field, the team had pretty much clung to the same ole schtick. The team's lone victory came from the liberal use of 12 personnel,

Curiously, that was the only game before the Week 6 BYE to see much use of two tight ends whatsoever.

The team stuck with veteran DB Tre'Davious White, despite his putting up the worst performance of his NFL career. The team signed former starting defensive back Ahkello Witherspoon, but he was stuck on the practice squad. The team continued to keep rookie RB Blake Corum on the bench, despite so many promising reports out of training camp.

And this defense was getting destroyed by opposing offenses on the ground. But even when the option to sit starting ILB Christian Rozeboom and Troy Reeder were suggested, Rams HC Sean McVay retorted that undrafted rookie ILB Omar Speights, who wowed in preseason, was not ready to compete in the NFL just yet.

If the coaching staff refused to change things up, how could anyone, even the general manager, expect the team's fortunes to change? And if change is unlikely, how could any crystal ball scrying foresee the Rams suddenly reversing their fortunes and winning two very competitive games within five days?

NFL GMs are not tasked with fixing a successful team. They are tasked with doing what's best for the team when the chips are down, and the Rams were not showing much of a pulse through five games.

Injuries will do that to a team. Not only does it limit the competitiveness of the team, but it also adds uncertainty to the future as to whether that player will return at full strength, or no. When the phone rings in those circumstances, GMs answer. Until a formal offer is made and deciphered, it's all just information gathering.

Still confused? It's like window shopping with no intention to buy anything. Or if you can remember back that far, it's like checking out the help wanted section of the paper with no intention of quitting your job. It's a normal part of your week, and your life.

Why an Week 8 win matters this year

Regardless of who initiated the call, who picked up the phone, how long the conversation lasted, or whether or not any commitment was made to revisit the top, the facts are the the Rams did hold some level of communication with other teams about the parameters needed to complete a trade of WR Cooper Kupp.

But let's pause here. Conversations like this happen all the time. It's not really news. What did make this newsworthy is the fact that trading Kupp made some sense for a struggling 1-4 team. There is also the timing of trade talks running smack dab in the middle of three other successful trades of a veteran NFL wide receiver. But most of all, there is the fact that the Rams are known to do this sort of thing.

But it was up to the team to silence the buzz. And that is exactly what it did.

The repercussions of a Week 8 victory were nearly instantaneous. There is a general consensus by NFL Insiders that the Rams are no longer sellers at the 2024 NFL Trade Deadline. In fact, the mood about the Rams has swung so dramatically in the other direction that some believe the Rams could be net buyers at the NFL Trade Deadline.

And then there is the rebuttal from Rams HC Sean McVay. who admonished the media for reporting on Cooper Kupp trade rumors.

But after winning two games, what was he going to say?

Mood and sentiment change quickly in the NFL. No team enjoys trading presently productive players for the hope of drafting young talented players for the future. The Rams very roster building applied the certainty premium of a veteran player against the uncertainty of future draft picks quite successfully.

And for even deeper consideration, were trade rumors a ploy to motivate the team to snap back quickly? Like an onion, the more you dig, the more layers you discover. But in the end, one thing is clear. The LA Rams brick house survived another huff and puff from NFL Rumors Wolf.

And they all lived happily ever after. Until Week 9, that is. Thanks for reading.

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