Scott Fitterer accidentally set the LA Rams down a new path to success

The LA Rams had just won Super Bowl LVI, but the following season found the team falling out of the upper tier of NFL teams like a meteor burning up in the atmosphere. The 2022 NFL Trade Deadline fell on November 6, 2022, at 1:00 pm PT, and the Rams had fallen to a record of 3-5. It was not too late to turn the season around, or so the team's front office thought. The team needed to land an elite running back and pass rusher. Or so, that is what the front office thought.

The Carolina Panthers were 2-7, and they held elite talent at both the running back and pass rush positions. Better yet, NFL rumors at the team suggested that both RB Christian McCaffrey and OLB/DE Brian Burns could be had for the right price.

So Rams GM Les Snead focused on making offers for those players that no sane general manager could refuse. Per ESPN's Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter, the Rams offered a Round 2, Round 3, and Round 5 along with running back Cam Akers to the Carolina for Christian McCaffrey.

At the same time, Snead offered up two Round 1 picks and a Round 2 pick for OLB/DE Brian Burns. In essence, the Rams placed two Round 1, two Round 2, a Round 3, and a Round 5 draft picks, plus running back Cam Akers on the table for both McCaffrey and Burns. Then Carolina Panthers GM looked at all those draft picks, pondered the offers for a moment, and then said no.

The Carolina Panthers would eventually trade both players. They would agree to terms with the San Francisco 49ers, and send McCaffrey to the Rams rivals, for Round 2, Round 3, and Round 4 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, and a Round 5 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to seal the deal. The difference between the two offers? The 49ers tossed in a Round 4 pick that the Rams did not possess. So the Panthers opted for a Round 4 pick over RB Cam Akers.

The Panthers eventually traded Brian Burns as well, after he realized his value based on how much the Rams were willing to give up to trade for him. But due to Burns' salary demands, he would only get a winning bid of a Round 2 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and a Round 5 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft from the New York Giants.