The Rams had no business entertaining a Byron Young trade, and Byron Young knew it.
When a fan floated the idea of using the edge rusher as trade bait, Young fired back on social media with a blunt response: “Fans always so quick to trade me…wild. https://t.co/c7NRZNfZwR”
He had every reason to push back. The proposal never even spelled out what Los Angeles would get back, which is usually a good sign the idea belongs in the group chat and nowhere near the front office.
More importantly, moving Young would have created one problem while pretending to solve another. The Rams need more pressure, not less.
Through nine games, they’ve managed just 16 sacks, and four of those came in Week 9 during Myles Garrett’s debut. That kind of spike only underscores how much more this defense needs from its pass rush.
Garrett’s arrival gave the unit a jolt, but the Rams still need consistency off the edge, especially with eight games left and an offense that is also dealing with its own limitations. In that setting, dealing away the team’s sack leader would have been a strange way to improve the roster.
Young hasn’t had a perfect season, and his automatic extension case is less clear than it once looked. But there are reasons to be careful about reading too much into the dip.
He’s been dealing with double teams, and he’s also had to take on more of a veteran role with rookie edge rusher Wesley Bailey and sophomore Josaiah Stewart around him. Before Garrett’s three-sack return, Young was the only Ram with multiple sacks in a game.
The timing also made the idea even shakier. The trade deadline had already passed, which meant Los Angeles would have been selling low on a valuable starter. If the Rams wanted a meaningful return for a player like Young, that kind of deal would have taken months of back-and-forth, not a last-minute scramble.
And even if the Rams had found a receiver worth chasing, the fit would have been messy. Any new pass catcher would need to learn the playbook fast and carve out a role before the healthy returns of Davante Adams and Puka Nacua changed the picture again.
So while fans may love the thrill of tossing names into trade hypotheticals, general manager Les Snead did the sensible thing and stayed put at the deadline. In this case, standing pat was the right call.
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Rams Seem Poised For A Veteran WR Move With Big Stakes
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Several familiar names have surfaced as possibilities, including Odell Beckham Jr., Tyreek Hill, Darius Slayton and Josh Reynolds, each bringing a different kind of fit for Sean McVays offense. No signing has been made yet, but the Rams have clearly created the space to act if they decide one of those options is worth the investment, which makes the next move in this spot one to watch closely. [Read more 🡒]