The NFL trade deadline is a month away but the usually-active general manager Les Snead probably can’t do much else to improve the Los Angeles Rams after an expensive offseason. It would be a stunner if the Rams were able to add any veteran players to their roster because the franchise is dead last in the NFL in cap space.
According to OvertheCap.com, the Rams have $1.058 million in 2026 cap space, the least amount in the league. The Carolina Panthers are the only under team with less than $3 million in cap space.
Does Snead have any more tricks under his cap?
How Rams could still make space
The Rams have several players who have large base salaries, making it possible to maneuver around the cap with their contracts:
- Davante Adams makes $18 million
- Matthew Stafford makes $16 million
- A.J. Jackson makes $18.9 million
- Kevin Dotson makes $8 million
- Kyren Williams makes $5.5 million
The Rams have options to restructure four of those five players. The exception is Dotson because he’s a 2027 free agent, so Snead’s only opportunity there would be a contract extension.
However, do the Rams want to double-down on players like Adams, Stafford, Jackson, and Williams?
I wouldn’t.
And which players would be worth it?
Trade rumor candidates
The biggest headline-grabbing move is receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., but a) he plays with a division rival and b) he’s just not very good. Would Harrison be useful to Stafford? Possibly.
But fans and the media often tend to overrate players who were simply overrated in the draft. Harrison should not have been an early first-round pick, or even a first-round pick at all. Not based on how he’s playing.
It’s the same story with Brian Thomas, Jr. He has been average since his rookie season, if not bad. Is Thomas going to expect an extension from the team that trades for him regardless of him only having 105 yards this year?
We saw it with Jerry Jeudy when he was traded to the Browns. You’d be amazed at what a team would pay for an overrated first-round pick.
PFF listed 15 possible trade candidates this week, including both of those receivers.
And even being on rookie contracts, the Rams couldn’t afford either of them right now because they only have $1 million in cap space. They’d have to make a big cap-saving move to afford any player.
PFF also mentions defensive tackle Daron Payne.
It might be a position of need for the Rams, but why is Payne available—if he even is? It’s been a quiet career for Payne since his Pro Bowl season in 2022.
Plus, the Rams don’t have many picks to trade.
Rams draft picks
The Rams have already traded for Myles Garrett, leaving them without a first-round pick in 2027. They also gave up a second in 2028 and a third (that could become a first) in 2029.
Snead also traded a third-round pick in 2027 for Trent McDuffie.
And L.A. doesn’t have next year’s seventh because of Tre’Davious White.
The Rams don’t have three of their original picks next year and they don’t have any compensatory picks coming to them in 2027 either, according to OTC.
You think the Rams should trade for a linebacker or a receiver? With what? How do they afford him? Is that one player really going to be the difference for L.A., especially if all the acquisitions Snead already made aren’t enough?
If the Rams needed help this year in an area where they are obviously deficient—maybe that’s something Snead should have addressed with his first-round pick.
The help probably won’t come at the trade deadline.
