Latest B/R blockbuster trade proposal puts Rams in NFC West driver seat

Why the Rams veto this trade

There are several reasons why the LA Rams will veto this trade, so I find it necessary to limit this part of the article to the top and most obvious reasons. After all, listing too many reasons for one section of a trade proposal makes everything feel sort of out of balance. That simply won't do.

The first and most obvious reason is the asking price. Vikings WR Stefon Diggs is a year younger, as effective on the football field as Davante Adams, and could only attract a deeply discounted Round 2 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. So the asking price of Adams is way over the top in this exchange. But there are more reasons to say no than a costly trade exchange.

Right now, Adams is nearly 32 years old, and is under contract through 2026. But just like the current situation with veteran QB Matthew Stafford, his guaranteed money runs dry in 2024. Unlike Stafford, Adams is absolutely the type of player who could hold out of training camp in order to rectify his financial security. Would it make any sense to trade a first round pick to add more headaches and hoops to the team's finances for the next two seasons?

Another point that must be laid out fully is the distribution of the football. Hey, it's wonderful to imagine an NFL team stacking a host of 1000 yard receivers to a roster, all of whom are screaming for the football. But when you actually try to map out the number of targets each of those receivers need to get to that 1000 yard plateau, the thrill of so much talent fades away as reality sets in. WR Davante Adams averagea 175 targets in each of the last three seasons.

In 2023, rookie WR Puka Nacua was targeted 160 times. In his All-Pro season in 2021, veteran WR Cooper Kupp was targeted 191 times. If you add those numbers up, the Rams passing game is already up to 526 passes in 2024, and that is just for their top three receivers. To get the ball to everyone, the Rams would need to pass the football 750+ times. Unless the team suffers injury to one or more players, that seems incredibly unrealistic.