New Rams rumors have fans puzzled. Misdirection, earnest interest, or something more?

What exactly are the LA Rams up to? That is what we are here to find out.

From the start of the NFL Scouting Combine, NFL fans know that there are many tricks of the trade, used by teams who want a player to fall on draft boards, by agents who want a player to rise on draft boards, and even by players and that player's close circle who want a player to be selected by a specific team. The telltale sign for such dabbling with the upcoming draft is typically identified by the 'unnamed sources' category of NFL rumors.

But this year is a bit different.

Before he re-signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 6-foot-5, 231-pound wide receiver Mike Evans was believed to be one of the hottest free agent players to hit the 2024 NFL Free Agency market. As such, there was a gaggle of teams already rumored to be lining up to pursue him in free agency.

And yes, the LA Rams were reported to be among the group of teams to have interest in signing him this offseason.

While that could be written off as simply doing their due diligence there is more talk about the team's offseason plans that suggest that it was more than just being a nosey neighbor. You see, NFL Insider Ian Rapoport also reported on the Rams rumor that the team was one of the teams to interview Washington WR Rome Odunze during the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. While the Rams are doing their due diligence with Odunze as well, nobody expects the Washington receiver to fall out of the Top-10 players selected on the draft board.

Just for the record, Odunze is also a skyscraper, standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 212 pounds, and blessed with solid speed and the ability to catch any football in his vicinity.

So the question that forms after these two Rams rumors have already been reported publicly well in advance of the 2024 NFL Draft and NFL Free Agency market is: Are the Rams prioritizing an elite and tall wide receiver this offseason? Or is this all a red herring, a trail of bread crumbs that leads other NFL GMs in the wrong direction of what the team truly intends to do this offseason?

Or could it be that the Rams, a team that loves to load up weapons for HC Sean McVay and his pass-happy offense, is shopping for another marquee NFL wide receiver for a Super Bowl run in 2024?

The Rams certainly have invested in the wide receiver position in the past, and that has been much to the chagrin of fans (Tutu Atwell ring any bells?) I suppose it is not above the Rams to invest a pick or salary cap dollars into a star at the wide receiver position. After all, we know that the team needed every receiver on the roster to win Super Bowl LVI.

Is the recent interest of the Rams front office in big-bodied wide receivers just misdirection or earnest interest? We will find out soon enough I suppose. But it seems as though the Rams have something up their sleeve once more, doesn't it? After all, Rams GM Les Snead has been on a leash for a very long time.

He could be turned loose this offseason.