With the 2022 NFL Draft coming at the end of April, teams are furiously trying to prepare to make their selections. At the ongoing NFL Draft Combine, teams are looking for the types of athletes and people they want to add to their team.
One of the most highly-touted prospects in this draft class is University of Oregon edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux. Thibodeaux is a native of South Los Angeles and won USA Today’s High School Football Defensive Player of the Year as a senior at Thousand Oaks’ Oaks Christian School in 2018.
Thibodeaux is a projected top-five pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, but is hopeful to see himself play in a Los Angeles Rams uniform, via one of Thibodeaux’s old tweets:
I want to either get drafted or traded to the rams💯that’s a dream come true https://t.co/FNzG6lxezK
— Kayvon Thibodeaux (@kayvont) December 30, 2018
Considering the Rams do not have a selection until the 103rd pick — the final pick of the third round — they will not have a chance to draft Thibodeaux outright in April. They also don’t have the means to trade into the top five, making it truly difficult for him to be on the Rams next season.
However, for Thibodeaux, getting to the Rams someday is absolutely a possibility. It’s just going to take some patience on his part. First-round picks generally sign four-year contracts, and it’s very rare for a top selection to be let go before the fourth year.
Teams also have fifth-year options that are exercised for top players like Thibodeaux projects to be. So if Thibodeaux desperately wants to play for the Rams, it may be a few years before he’s capable of living that out.
Of course, the 21-year old could attempt drastic measures to force his way to the Rams. But given the team-friendly structure of contracts and business operations, a successful trade request to the Rams is unlikely.
Sean McVay labels top priorities for 2022 offseason
With limited draft capital, the Rams will be much more focused on their free agency decisions. But before they even get to that, Sean McVay put Aaron Donald and Matthew Stafford at the top of the priority list.
McVay stated that contract extensions for the Rams star defensive tackle and quarterback are at the top of the offseason to-do list.
