There are now seven teams in the NFL who are 1-4 and the New York Jets are 0-5, giving the L.A. Rams one-quarter of the league to call about potentially trading players that could help their weaknesses at cornerback, linebacker, center, and otherwise. Should the Rams jump ahead of their competition to trade for any of those potentially-available players like Breece Hall, Greg Newsome, or L’Jarius Sneed?
Is it too soon to inquire with teams like the Ravens to make sure that they’ve started to think
about 2026 and take advantage of GMs who are at a loss for how to keep hope alive in their cities?
It’s not as easy as you think it is to find decent trade targets on bad teams — many of them are contributing to the problem! — but the Rams are one of the most likely teams to make a trade. We know this. Should the Rams be trying to make a trade this week for any of these players on bad teams?
0-5 Jets
RB Breece Hall
This chart makes it so obvious why Hall is a complement to Kyren Williams, as Hall is high on the explosive rate (where Williams is low) and Williams has a low rate of stuffed plays but can’t turn those into big gains:
Ironically, we’re talking about Hall a day after he has a huge, costly fumble against the Cowboys. Not great timing there. But Hall has WAY better ball security than Williams and is a better all-around running back. Hall had 14 carries for 113 yards against Dallas, one of his best career days, despite being on a terrible team.
Could the Rams get Breece Hall for Blake Corum and a 6th?
Do you have any other ideas of Jets who the Rams should trade for? Let us know in the comments.
1-4 Dolphins
CB Jack Jones
Is this better than Emmanuel Forbes?
Jones is a 2026 free agent and could probably be had for a day three pick swap. The Dolphins must be close to firing Mike McDaniel and tearing down the roster as much as possible after Week 5’s loss to the Panthers.
LB Tyrel Dodson
Dodson is a below average linebacker but maybe better than Troy Reeder. However, he has a concussion so it may impossible to trade for him now.
1-4 Ravens
WR Rashod Bateman
I stand by what I wrote last week and the absurdity of Bateman in Baltimore continued on Sunday when he was only targeted 3 times and had zero catches. Bateman would make the Rams a better red zone offense, which is what they desperately needed against the 49ers on Thursday.
C Tyler Linderbaum
There are no rumors of the Ravens being open to trading Linderbaum but we also know that they didn’t give him the fifth-year option. That’s not unexpected because center contracts do not match the price tag on a fifth-year option, making it unlikely that any first round center would have his fifth-year option picked up no matter how good he is. However, given that the Ravens could be one of the worst teams in the league and have left Linderbaum’s contract open ended, could a team take advantage of Baltimore while they’re vulnerable and steal Linderbaum?
Again, I do not expect this to happen but if there’s any chance that the Ravens don’t want to pay Linderbaum, it couldn’t hurt to throw a bid at GM Eric DeCosta to see if he’s listening.
CB Chidobe Awuzie
Awuzie has a hamstring injury, making him a potential liability all season. This is also the most famous clip of him playing football this season:
1-4 Browns
CB Greg Newsome
My question to Rams fans who want Newsome would be “Do you know that he’s good or do you just know that was a first round pick?”
Newsome was the 26th overall pick in 2021 and he’s started 47 career games but Newsome hasn’t done anything to stand out in his career. He had one of the worst seasons last year by any cornerback, allowing a passer rating of 112.5 and posting an absurdly bad 20.6% missed tackle rate. This year, Newsome is allowing an even higher completion rate than 2024 (65%) and teams are attacking him deeper down the field at an average depth of target of 14.2. But he hasn’t missed any tackles yet.
I know that the grass seems greener on the other side and “could Newsome be worse than Forbes?” and the answer I have is…Didn’t people say “Emmanuel Forbes couldn’t be any worse than…”? Being a first round pick does not make you good.
CB Denzel Ward
Ward is good but that comes with a price. Ward has two years left on his contract with salaries of $17 million (basically) in each of the next two seasons and $5 million in roster bonuses. If the Rams trade for Ward, they would probably look into extending him. He’s been a Pro Bowler in three of the past four seasons but there’s got to be some question of how much those honors are influenced by Ward being a former top-5 pick.
After losing to the Vikings in Week 5, Ward admitted he was at fault for the game-losing touchdown to Minnesota. Ward is expected to be a hot-and-cold cornerback who is probably overpaid.
But as opposed to Newsome, there’s no question that Ward would be a huge upgrade to what the Rams currently have. The truth is that we have no idea if Cleveland actually wants to trade their good players but it doesn’t look like they’re going to win many games this season anyway. Trading for Ward should not cost a first round pick, but maybe a second. Maybe it would be cheaper than that because of the contract and age (28).
1-4 Titans
CB L’Jarius Sneed
Maybe his career isn’t quite as dead as it seemed last year. The Titans traded for Sneed as a franchise tagged player and extended him on a four-year contract but his first season in Tennessee was a disaster. Sneed has had a bit of a rebound, staying healthy (5 games is as many as he played in 2024) and holding receivers to 55% catches on 20 targets. He hasn’t intercepted a pass since 2023 but he’s perfectly capable of it, maybe he just needs to go to a better team. He’s a bit of a hero in Tennessee today after hustling on the infamous Demarcado play:
The Rams would be on the hook for $15 million salaries in 2026 and 2027, but none of it is guaranteed.
C Lloyd Cushenberry
I’m going to say this is very unlikely because the Titans want to be able to help Cam Ward, but if there’s any chance that the Titans have lost all hope, perhaps Les Snead can get them to talk about Cushenberry because he’s owed a lot of money.
Cushenberry has about $6 million left this year, $6.5 million in 2026, and $10.5 million in 2027.
1-4 Raiders
C Jackson Powers-Johnson
The name has come up plenty of times before. It seems like right now JPJ is starting again so maybe he’s off the table. But the Raiders are one of the worst teams in the NFL (again) and they have moved JPJ to guard. Would he be happier and better as a center?
LB Jamal Adams
It appears as though Adams’ move to linebacker has salvaged a career as a safety that was over. Maybe Adams could help the Rams defense more than their current options other than Nate Landman.
The Raiders just lost 40-6 to the Colts. They’re horrifically bad and should start selling off pieces immediately.
1-4 Saints
LB Demario Davis
I question if Davis wants his career to go out like this on a bad team. The 36-year-old isn’t the player that he once was but he could help the Rams tremendously.
RB Alvin Kamara
Kamara is 30, which makes him even older than Davis in terms of the fact that he’s a running back. Could Kamara be the complement in the backfield that Sean McVay is looking for?
1-4 Giants
OL Evan Neal
The fact that he’s on the bench isn’t good news. He’s always been bad in the NFL and he’s a healthy scratch now. But shouldn’t the Giants trade him for nothing then? He’s a free agent in 2026 anyway.
Which of these players is most appealing to you? Which trade would help the Rams the most? And which players did I overlook who are currently on teams that are 1-4 or the Jets at 0-5? Share in the comments and let’s figure out what Les Snead needs to do at midseason to make the Rams better just as he did in 2021.
