The Los Angeles Rams entered the 2026 season as the preseason Super Bowl favorite, but they’ve spent the first half of the year trying to tread water.
At 4-4, the Rams have just a 44% chance to make the playoffs, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index. And their wide receiver room just got a lot thinner.
Six-time Pro Bowler Davante Adams ruptured his hamstring on a non-contact play in the Rams’ 18-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 18. Head coach Sean McVay said the 33-year-old will be out 6-10 weeks.
That’s a massive loss. Adams had 30 catches for 480 yards and four touchdowns before the injury, and the Rams don’t have a trusted No. 3 receiver behind him and All-Pro Puka Nacua, who already missed time earlier this season with a hip injury.
However, there may be a low-cost option to help save their passing attack.
Rams Linked to Commanders WR Dyami Brown
With the Nov. 10 trade deadline fast approaching, ESPN’s Aaron Schatz tabbed Washington Commanders wide receiver Dyami Brown as a player the Rams should explore trading for.
“Who should they target? Commanders WR Dyami Brown,” Schatz wrote. “Brown is on a one-year deal; he would give the Rams a veteran field stretcher who could play some snaps while Davante Adams (hamstring) is out. And as an added bonus, he’s lauded as a run blocker. McVay loves wide receivers who can run block.”
While Brown makes sense for the Rams, it should be noted, however, that McVay isn’t exactly working the phones.
According to ESPN’s Sarah Barshop, McVay said the team doesn’t plan to add externally before the deadline and instead views the players returning from injury over the next month as their additions.
“Maybe it’d be a different conversation if we’re talking about guys that are on IR and done for the whole season,” McVay said.
The Rams also have just four draft picks in 2027 — their own second-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-rounders — so there isn’t much ammunition for a big swing anyway.
Why Brown is Appealing to the Rams
What makes Brown such an intriguing fit is that he wouldn’t cost much.
The 2021 third-round pick has never been a high-volume receiver. His best regular season came in 2024, when he set career highs with 30 catches for 308 yards with Washington. He spent 2025 with the Jacksonville Jaguars before returning to the Commanders on a one-year deal.
But Rams fans might remember “Playoff Dyami.”
During Washington’s run to the NFC Championship Game in the 2024 season, Brown caught 14 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown in three games. That included a five-catch, 89-yard, one-touchdown performance in the wild-card win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also posted a team-high 98 yards in the upset of the top-seeded Detroit Lions.
That’s exactly the kind of late-season spark the Rams need.
Washington has just an 11.6% chance to make the playoffs. ESPN’s John Keim noted that a loss to the Rams could push the Commanders toward moving veterans on one-year deals for draft picks.
Rams Trade Pitch Nets 1,100-Yard Field-Stretching WR Amid Davante Adams Injury