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It was originally supposed to be a question about what the philosophy was regarding the Los Angeles Rams making their attempt to get $13 million edge rusher Brian Burns and $64 million running back Christian McCaffrey on NFL trade deadline day.
But instead on the Tuesday, November 1 edition of the Rich Eisen Show, Sports Illustrated NFL insider Albert Breer gave some telling details about how he sees the future of Sean McVay playing out in L.A.
Breer Says McVay is Close to ‘Core Group’ on Rams Roster, With Their Futures Helping Dictate his Future
While Breer’s later response to Eisen’s question still got him to intertwine Burns and McCaffrey’s name, his first response dove more into his prediction of how long, and when, McVay will roam the sidelines for the Rams.
“I think the way the Rams view it right now: They’ve got a core of four players…realistically what we’re talking about here is [Matthew] Stafford, [Cooper] Kupp, [Aaron] Donald and [Jalen] Ramsey. And, I just also, in acknowledgement and this is something I’ve talked about the last few months, Sean McVay’s future with the team is probably tied to those four guys. And in all likelihood, when those guys are gone, McVay’s going to be gone too,” Breer told Eisen.
This is Breer explaining the philosophy of going “all in” on one or another superstar from the Carolina Panthers, who after firing head coach Matt Rhule on October 10 began to have their own core players listed as trade bait. Eventually, wide receiver Robby Anderson became an Arizona Cardinal. McCaffrey, while being pursued by the Rams, made his way to the San Francisco 49ers. Burns, however, remained pat in Charlotte post trade deadline.
But how Breer sees it, the Rams began thinking about their future with not only building around the core four mentioned by him, but adding a potential pass rushing heir apparent to Donald in Burns while also getting whatever is left from McCaffrey to extend McVay’s desire to coach.
“So I think the way that they look at this is — ‘we have to do everything we can to maximize what we’ve got right now because we’ve got a special, special coach and we’ve got a special core of players. And maybe that’ll last another year, maybe it’ll last for five. But whatever that period of time is, we need to get the most out of those guys right now,'” Breer said. “And that’s why the 2024 and 2025 first round pick wouldn’t be as valuable, it’s why their 2023 pick wouldn’t be as valuable. That’s why they made a spirited run at Christian McCaffrey.”
How Close Were the Rams, Really?
Breer says what the Rams offered for McCaffrey was “really close” to what the 49ers eventually offered, but what sealed the Panthers-49ers deal was this.
“The Panthers decided they wanted a four (fourth rounder) in ’23, that wound up being the tiebreaker,” Breer said, as the Rams didn’t have a fourth round option to give.
But there’s more to the Rams-Panthers deal involving “Run CMC” that never came through: Breer unveiled Cam Akers was attached to the packaged deal the Rams tried to put together for Carolina. Such a move would’ve gotten Akers to become teammates again with offensive guard Austin Corbett.
Then, in pivoting to Carolina’s defense, Breer told Eisen “They also wound up making a monster offer for Brian Burns. They wanted to go get an edge rusher with Von Miller going out the door.”
But as reported on the morning of deadline day by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Rams were willing to surrender their future No. 1 picks in 2024 and 2025 to nab Burns…but that deal never came through. Akers’ name was also involved.
Now, the Rams will roll with who they have on the 2022 roster post trade deadline and take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, November 6. But as Breer stated, “They’re all in on those core of players” in Stafford, Kupp, Donald and Ramsey under McVay.
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