Unbeaten Rams in market for edge rusher at trade deadline
THOUSAND OAKS — The Los Angeles Rams are the NFL’s only unbeaten team at 8-0. They’re o to the franchise’s best start since 1969, and they have a 3½-game lead in the NFC West with stellar play on both sides of the ball.
Now imagine them with another pass rusher.
That’s what Sean McVay and the Rams’ front o ce are doing while they attempt to bolster their spectacular start with even more talent before the trade deadline Tuesday.
In particular, the Rams acknowledge they are seeking an edge rusher to join Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh on a solid defense that could be formidable with even more pressure on the quarterback.
“That could be something that we definitely would look into, based on the availability of some of the players that we’ve looked into,” McVay said of the market for edge rushers. “That would be, yes, a possibility.”
The Rams are tied for eighth in the NFL with 22 sacks, but 10 of those came from Donald, who has been perhaps even more disruptive in his first season since winning the AP’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2017.
Donald sacked Aaron Rodgers twice and delivered four quarterback hits during Los Angeles’ 29-27 win over Green Bay on Sunday.
Suh and do-everything linebacker Cory Littleton also have three sacks apiece this season, but general manager Les Snead would love to add an edge rusher to take pressure o a secondary that’s missing injured cornerback Aqib Talib until at least late November.
“I’ve had a couple di erent discussions with Les with regards to some things that we feel like might be able to upgrade our team,” McVay said.
“If anything ends up going through or not, not really sure. But there are some discussions.”
COACHING CAROUSEL
McVay’s personnel concerns aren’t limited to his roster, either.
He realizes the Rams’ remarkable success grabs the attention of teams looking to poach his assistant coaches.
After all, he has only been in charge for 24 regular-season games, and he already lost offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur and quarterbacks coach Greg Olson last winter.