Los Angeles Rams were seconds away from pulling off dramatic 2025 NFL Draft trade that would have shifted their 2025 and 2026 classes
The Los Angeles Rams pulled off quite a few trades in the 2025 NFL Draft, trading out of the first round, while also moving up in the fourth and fifth rounds of the draft. However, they almost made another massive move that would have sent ripples across their 2025 and 2026 NFL Draft classes. Mike […]
The Los Angeles Rams pulled off quite a few trades in the 2025 NFL Draft, trading out of the first round, while also moving up in the fourth and fifth rounds of the draft.
However, they almost made another massive move that would have sent ripples across their 2025 and 2026 NFL Draft classes.
Mike Silver of The Athletic wrote that the Rams were this close to making a dramatic trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the third round of the draft.
"Shortly after the third round began, another potential option surfaced: The Detroit Lions called, floating a possible trade that would send their third-round pick (No. 102) and a pair of 2026 third-rounders to the Jags for the 70th selection, a fifth-round pick and a 2026 sixth-rounder. The Lions still weren’t sure they wanted to do the deal, but they were laying groundwork…….A few seconds later, Gladstone got an offer from the Rams: their second-round pick next year for the 70th selection."
Just a year after committing one of the biggest overpays in draft value history with the trade up for Braden Fiske, Snead was ready to risk it all again with another massive trade. The last time a trade like that happened, the New Orleans Saints traded a seventh and a second in the 2017 NFL Draft for the 67th overall pick.
Fortunately for the Rams, this didn't happen, and they get to keep their abundance of capital next year (at least, for now).
As it turns out, the Rams were trying to trade up for Louisville edge rusher Ashton Gillotte. The trade fell apart as the Kansas City Chiefs selected Gillotte 66th overall, taking that prospect away. The Rams stood pat instead, selecting Michigan edge rusher Josaiah Stewart at 90th overall.
It's interesting to me that the Rams were so set on acquiring an edge rusher and were even ready to commit a mammoth amount of capital there despite already having Jared Verse and Byron Young here.
Verse is undoubtedly a budding superstar, and Young has been a productive pass rusher for his career with the team, which makes such a move rather surprising on the surface. However, given the playstyle of Ashton Gillotte and Josaiah Stewart, it seems like the Rams wanted a player who could play in base and against the run, something Young has struggled with throughout his career.
While Young won't be "benched" or anything like that, with all of these moves in mind, it seems like the Rams were interested in acquiring a different "EDGE2" opposite of Verse, who could play on all three downs and unleasing Young in subpackages and passing downs.
This could be purely spitballing and reading too much into things, but sometimes it's hard to avoid signs and signals when a team blatantly tips their hand like this.
