The NFL trade deadline is quickly approaching as there are less than three weeks left for teams to make deals before Oct. 31. The Los Angeles Rams have often been an active team at the deadline, bringing in players such as Kenny Young, Austin Corbett and Von Miller in years past.
This year will probably have a different, less exciting feel, according to Sean McVay.
During Wednesday’s press conference, McVay was asked if the Rams are assessing the possibility of bringing in help, but he made it clear that they’re probably not going to be buyers. The reasoning? A lack of resources, apparently.
“No, we don’t really have the available–– you kind of have to have some resources and different things like that for those to be options so I don’t know that those conversations will be as prevalent as maybe in years past,” McVay said.
It’s not necessarily accurate for McVay to say the Rams don’t have the resources to bring in help before the trade deadline. This is the first time in a while that they have a first-round pick available, holding their own top-32 selection in 2024. They have just about their entire allotment of picks available in next year’s draft.
What’s more likely the cause for Los Angeles’ conservative approach is the goal of rebuilding in 2024. This is a team that probably won’t be in Super Bowl contention this year, and the Rams are certainly not one player away.
So they’d prefer to hold onto their draft capital and use it next offseason, rather than bringing in short-term help this year. McVay isn’t going to say that, so he tried to make it seem like they don’t have the resources.
Now, they do only have $6 million in cap space this year, so maybe that’s what he was referring to. But this is one of the few opportunities they’ve had to use a first-round pick at the trade deadline. They just shouldn’t go down that route and use it on a rental for 2023.
