The NFL trade deadline is less than a week away, and there have already been some big deals to go down. The Carolina Panthers sent Pro Bowl running back Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers for draft picks and the Chicago Bears traded star pass rusher Robert Quinn to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Los Angeles Rams were linked to both players but ultimately did not land either. While the team has been shut out thus far, it is reasonable to expect they will make at least one trade ahead of next Tuesday’s deadline.
Rams head coach Sean McVay previously admitted the team was exploring the possibility of dealing Cam Akers, who has not played since Week 5 against the Dallas Cowboys. Akers reportedly was included in L.A.’s proposed trade offer to the Panthers for McCaffrey.
McVay has since revealed the Rams are looking at multiple avenues to improve their roster ahead of the Nov. 1 trade deadline, per Cameron DaSilva of Yahoo Sports:
“I would say we’re looking. We always look at a bunch of different avenues if we feel like it can upgrade our team as you know,” he said. “A lot of it is predicated on, ‘Who’s available? Is that something that we feel like kind of suits the needs or gives us a chance to upgrade?’ Each of those narratives, the past couple years, has been a little bit of a different story, but there is always dialogue and discussions going on with certain players that might be available. Whether or not something comes to fruition, if I had to guess right now, I think it doesn’t seem like anything is imminent, but you never know with us, right?”
At 3-3, the Rams could use some help at running back, the offensive line and edge rusher. The biggest difference maker at running back has already been traded, but there are plenty of pass rushers still on the market, including Brian Burns and Bradley Chubb.
As for the offensive line, that is always a difficult area to upgrade in the middle of a season. However, the Rams will see the return of Brian Allen this week, and Coleman Shelton and David Edwards could soon follow.
