The Los Angeles Rams dumped another former second-round pick on Tuesday when they traded Van Jefferson to the Atlanta Falcons, a deal that came less than a month after they sent Cam Akers to the Minnesota Vikings. Similar to the Akers trade, the Rams got very little in return for Jefferson.
They sent the Falcons a 2025 seventh-round pick with Jefferson and will only get back a 2025 sixth-rounder. There are questions about why the Rams made this deal, but it likely came down to clearing $1 million in cap space and helping out a wide receiver buried on the depth chart by giving him a fresh start somewhere else.
Buy Rams TicketsDespite the minimal return, experts didn’t hate the deal for Los Angeles. Here’s how three of them graded the trade for the Rams.
ForTheWin: B
Cory Woodroof was pretty kind to the Rams with his grade, giving them a B. He did wonder if the Rams could’ve waited a few weeks and gotten more for Jefferson before the trade deadline, but it’s obviously Los Angeles wanted to do right by Jefferson and give him a new start.
Trading him to Atlanta does right by the player, as he’ll play in a system where he could potentially flourish and to a coach in Arthur Smith who has likely familiarity with him going back to his days of playing at Ravenwood High School in Tennessee while Smith was with the Tennessee Titans.
ESPN: B-
Seth Walder gave the Rams a B- for this trade, understanding why Los Angeles would trade him now for a late-round pick swap rather than letting him play out the year and getting even less than that when he leaves in free agency.
Two weeks ago, he played 86% of the Rams’ snaps. It’s a little surprising that the team would already give up on him for almost nothing, considering it may need him again in case of injury. Then again, the Rams may feel it’s better to get almost nothing for him now than literally nothing in the offseason when his contract is up.
CBS Sports: C
Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports didn’t love the move for the Rams, giving them a C grade. The low return of a late-round pick swap obviously makes this a disappointing deal for the Rams, knowing they had to give up a pick just to get one back, especially for a player who had an 800-yard season the last time he was fully healthy.
L.A. was never going to get a substantial return for Jefferson. He’s essentially a rental with him being in the final year of his rookie contract, but you’d think that they’d be able to possibly get a higher Day 3 selection without having to attach a future seventh onto Jefferson as part of the trade.
