WHAT WE LEARNED: SUPER BOWL LVI — Can the Rams ‘All In’ Approach Work With Another Team?

BY ADAM GREENE

Nearly a year ago to the day of the Los Angeles Rams 20-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship, Les Snead and Sean McVay shocked the NFL world and let it be known that the Rams seriously have their own way of doing business by sending former No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff, along with a 2022 first round pick, a 2023 first round pick and a 2021 third rounder to the Detroit Lions in exchange for Matthew Stafford.

Stafford, himself a former No. 1 overall, had languished away in Detroit for 12 seasons and while he’d piled up stats, wins didn’t happen often. In his dozen years with the Lions, Stafford had four winning seasons. Three more of his Detroit campaigns were lost to injuries, but all were lost with poor coaching, team management and roster building.

Of course, not everyone saw it that way. But that’s NFL punditry. The guys in the league, that played and coached the game, knew what Stafford could do.

So when the Rams pulled the trigger on the trade, there was an idea that it would pay off with a better LA team. What would make the price worth it, the argument said, was a Super Bowl Championship.

That happened Sunday.

Of course, it wasn’t just Stafford that made it happen. Since McVay arrived, the Rams have not been afraid to spend draft capital on proven players. They did it in McVay’s first season, tossing a first round pick to the Buffalo Bills for Sammy Watkins. They did the same thing the very next season with the New England Patriots for Brandin Cooks.

Ready to actually use a first rounder in 2020, Los Angeles sent two to the Jacksonville Jaguars for Jalen Ramsey. The next season, two more went to the Lions. Unless the Rams trade their next upcoming first rounder, and they could, they will next select a player in the first round in 2024.

So, with Stafford on the team and the “Super Bowl or Bust” plan put into place, the Rams took another swing for the fences, trading 2022 second and third round picks to the Denver Broncos for Von Miller.

And while you can also add the acquisition of Odell Beckham Jr. to the list, the Rams needed a receiver then, even before Robert Woods got hurt.

In April’s upcoming draft, the Rams won’t pick until late in the third round. They’ll likely get some compensatory picks as well, but the best any of them will be is thirds.

And then next season, they still won’t pick on the draft’s first day.

And no one cares.

Because McVay, Snead, Stafford, Ramsey and Miller all hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy Sunday night and now, regardless of their salary cap or lack of draft selections, the Rams are now playing with the house’s money.

SO WHAT OTHER TEAMS CAN DO THIS?

This move, the Stafford trade, wouldn’t have worked for every team. What you must have to take Los Angeles’ approach is a Super Bowl team missing a key couple of pieces.

So while the Rams can add Stafford, Miller and OBJ and win a Super Bowl that same season, a team like the Miami Dolphins or Los Angeles Chargers probably wouldn’t. And certainly no team that finished 2021 with a losing record would

As of this writing, there are three quarterbacks that could probably be had for a deal similar to what the Rams gave up for Stafford — Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers, Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks and Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans.

Wilson has a great argument for Stafford potential. He’s a tremendous player on a team that’s underachieved (at least this last season) and doesn’t look to get any better next year. Wilson floated his own trade rumors last offseason and Seattle would answer the phone now.

Watson and the Texans both want a divorce. The only hold up is Watson’s court cases and surely this offseason they’ll wrap up. There will be no issue in trading the former first round pick. Only in getting the price right. Of all the three big dogs I’m writing about here, Watson has the longest career trajectory and, as long as he can stay off massage tables, it will be a successful one.

Lastly, there’s Rodgers, who pushed for a trade last year. Unlike the Texans and Seahawks, who are in the midst of rebuilds (or should be), the Packers are already a team that can “win now” and they already have the QB that can do it. He just might not want to be on the team.

The obvious choice for a team looking to make this kind of deal is the Denver Broncos. They have a new head coach and have been searching for a QB to put with a pretty potent roster since Peyton Manning retired.

The New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers still have playoff rosters, but no one in the building that they know can play quarterback. Watson on the Saints would probably land that team in the NFC Championship at worst.

While those three are obvious, there are some Wild Cards that look actually look a lot more “Ram like” — the Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts.

The Colts whiffed on Carson Wentz and they have a star-studded roster that underachieved to say the least. The Titans “might” be able to make it to a Super Bowl with Ryan Tannehill. But the Rams “made it” to a Super Bowl with Goff. “Making it” isn’t good enough.

Rodgers or Wilson on the Cleveland Browns would immediately put them right with the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals as a 2022-23 Super Bowl favorite.

Then you have teams like the Bills and Chiefs, who could see their upcoming first rounders, all in the late 20s or 30s, and decide they want to add a super star from a floundering team to put them over the hump. Would you like to see Michael Thomas on the Chiefs? Or Marshawn Lattimore patrolling Buffalo’s defensive backfield?

It’s all on the table now.

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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