Rams Trade Pitch Lands $140 Million All-Pro to Help Matthew Stafford

Getty Matthew Stafford #9 of the Los Angeles Rams.

The Los Angeles Rams broke their trade habit that lasted nearly a full decade.

In taking Jared Verse with the No. 19 overall pick of the 2024 draft, the Rams made their first first-round pick since 2016, when they selected Jared Goff with the No. 1 overall pick.

It remains to be seen if the pick will pay off. However, going back to their old ways of trades sending away draft capital could help the Rams maximize their title window with 36-year-old quarterback Mattew Stafford.

They already have a stacked wide receiver room with Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua among the top 1-2 punches in the league. But Kupp’s injury history suggests they can use reinforcements.

Las Vegas Raiders wideout Davante Adams could offer that and then some.

“The Rams admittedly don’t really need Adams,” Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport wrote on June 14. “Adding Adams to that mix would give Matthew Stafford the most dangerous trio of wide receivers in the league.

“It wouldn’t be cheap—but there’s no general manager in the NFL more willing to deal first-rounders than Les Snead.”

Rams get:

– Davante Adams

Raiders get:

– 2025 first-round pick

Adams is a six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro selection, earning each distinction with the Raiders in 2022. However, the Raiders’ change from Derek Carr to Jimmy Garappolo and then rookie Aidan O’Connell led to a dropoff in Adams’ production.

The former Green Bay Packer, Adams, was visibly frustrated at times last season.

Hard to blame Davante Adams.

Adams has rejected trade speculation, suggesting he would have been traded if he wanted one.

“If I wanted to be gone, I’d be gone by now,” Adams said, per the Athletic’s Tashan Reed in April. “This is where I want to be.”

Insider Expects Raiders to be Sellers at 2024 Trade Deadline

GettyWide receiver Davante Adams #17 of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Despite Adams’ wishes, the Raiders could be positioned to move off some of their more expensive contracts, and the 31-year-old Adams could be a candidate.

“I … believe that the roster is a ways off, and the long-term quarterback for Pierce and first-year GM Tom Telesco isn’t on the roster,” Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer wrote on June 13, “so there’s a pretty logical scenario out there where they become sellers at the deadline.”

That could put the Raiders and Rams on aligning paths toward a trade.

“Want to seriously threaten a loaded San Francisco 49ers team in the NFC West in 2024?” Davenport wrote. “This is the kind of move it’s going to take.”

Rams Can Create Cap Space to Accommodate a Trade

GettyMatthew Stafford #9 of the Los Angeles Rams.

Adams logged 372 fewer receiving yards in 2023 than in 2022, while his 67.3 yards per game were his fewest since the 2017 season. He is entering the third year of a five-year, $140 million contract and carries a $25.3 million cap hit in 2024.

The Rams have $8.6 million in cap space, per Over The Cap.

Getting the space to bring on Adams and the $17.5 million he would still be owed could prove tricky. The Rams have some viable pathways to doing so though.

Including Demarcus Robinson and backup offensive lineman Joseph Noteboom would add $9 million in salary from the Rams side. That clears enough room to bring in Adams. They could then restructure his contract, similar to what the Houston Texans did with Stefon Diggs.