Grading the 5 Rams’ blockbuster trades this offseason...

Grading each of the Rams' five blockbuster trades this offseason
Cameron DaSilva

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

This offseason for the Los Angeles Rams has been all about give and take. They’ve acquired a number of star players, from Ndamukong Suh to Marcus Peters, but they’ve also lost a handful of starters from 2017.

Robert Quinn, Alec Ogletree, Sammy Watkins and Trumaine Johnson were the biggest names to depart Los Angeles, and while the Rams have already replaced the latter two, they have yet to fill holes at inside and outside linebacker.

Looking beyond their additions in free agency (Suh, Sam Shields and Ramik Wilson), let’s analyze the five blockbuster trades Los Angeles has struck up to this point. All of them have huge implications for the upcoming season, considering all of them involved starters from last season.

We’ll hand out grades for each one, ranking them in order of best to worst.


RECEIVE: Marcus Peters + 2018 6th-round pick

GIVE: 2018 4th-round pick + 2019 2nd-round pick

This was the best trade of the offseason by any team, not just the Rams. Los Angeles somehow acquired a potential Hall of Famer who has the most interceptions since 2015 without giving up a first-round pick. That’s pretty remarkable, especially considering his very affordable contract.

Essentially, they moved down two rounds in 2018 and threw in a 2019 second-round pick, which is a minimal price to pay for one of the best cornerbacks in the game today. And if you factor in the third-round compensatory pick the Rams will receive next year for letting Trumaine Johnson leave, Los Angeles gave up very little to acquire Peters.

As long as he can stay focused, control his temper and not cause issues in the locker room, Peters will be an absolute steal for the Rams. They absolutely won this trade with flying colors.

GRADE: A+

Marcus Peters | Aqib Talib | Robert Quinn | Brandin Cooks | Alec Ogletree

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RECEIVE: Aqib Talib

GIVE: 2018 5th-round pick

Talib doesn’t bring the youth or cheap contract that Peters does, but he’s a very similar player. A ball hawk throughout his career, no active player has more interceptions than Talib since he came into the NFL in 2008 (34). He also comes with some character concerns after getting into multiple fights on the field, but he’s reunited with Wade Phillips, whom he said he feels most comfortable playing for.

A fifth-round pick is a minimal price to pay for a talented veteran with two years left on his contract, even at the age of 32. He’s showed in recent years that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank. He’ll pair with Peters and essentially replace the injured Kayvon Webster, who was cut on Friday.

GRADE: A-

Marcus Peters | Aqib Talib | Robert Quinn | Brandin Cooks | Alec Ogletree

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RECEIVE: 2018 4th + 6th-round picks

GIVE: Robert Quinn + 2018 6th-round pick

This move was more about Quinn’s salary than anything else. He was set to be paid about $12.4 million next season, which was the second-highest cap hit on the team. By trading him, the Rams save $11.4 million while recouping a fourth-round pick in the process.

That’s obviously not a premier draft selection, but by shedding $11.4 million off the cap, the Rams were able to acquire guys like Suh and Brandin Cooks. Put it this way: Who would you rather have? Suh and a fourth-round pick or Quinn? The answer to that question is fairly obvious.

The one downside to the deal is the fact that the Rams are very thin at outside linebacker now. Quinn was their best edge rusher last season and replacing his 8.5 sacks won’t be easy without picks in the first two rounds of the draft.

GRADE: B+

Marcus Peters | Aqib Talib | Robert Quinn | Brandin Cooks | Alec Ogletree

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RECEIVE: Brandin Cooks + 2018 4th-round pick

GIVE: 2018 1st + 6th-round picks

It’s not that this was a bad trade, it was just one the Rams probably didn’t need to make. They led the league in points scored last season with Sammy Watkins catching 39 passes for 593 yards. Sean McVay’s offense isn’t one that requires a true No. 1 receiver, and while Cooks may never be that, the price Los Angeles paid to acquire him suggest he should produce like one.

Not to mention, Cooks’ contract expires after next season, so if the Rams can’t sign him to an extension before he hits free agency, this trade could wind up looking worse than the Watkins deal, as hard as that is to believe.

Without a first- or second-round pick – both the result of trading for wide receivers – the Rams will have some trouble filling their biggest holes at linebacker. There’s no doubting Cooks will have a significant impact on the offense with his track-star speed and ability to score from anywhere on the field, but giving up a first-round pick hurts – especially given his contract situation.

And again, it wasn’t a bad trade, it was just one the Rams probably didn’t need to make.

GRADE: B

Marcus Peters | Aqib Talib | Robert Quinn | Brandin Cooks | Alec Ogletree

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RECEIVE: 2018 4th + 6th-round picks

GIVE: Alec Ogletree + 2019 7th-round pick

This trade left a few scratching their heads, not because Ogletree was an elite defender last season, but because the Rams had just given him a four-year, $42 million deal five months prior. Mark Barron seemed like the more tradeable linebacker for the Rams, given his contract situation, but neither he nor Ogletree fit particularly well in Phillips’ 3-4 defense.

Dealing Ogletree left Los Angeles with $6.4 million in dead money next season, though it saves more than $5 million, too. Clearly, the Rams didn’t want to pay Ogletree more than $11 million next season, opting to pay him $6.4 million to play for another team.

In return, the Rams received a fourth- and sixth-round pick this year, while giving up a seventh-rounder in 2019. The trade wasn’t as bad as the four-year extension the Rams gave Ogletree in October, but it still wasn’t necessarily ideal timing.

GRADE: B-