NFL Trade Rumors
The NFL trade deadline is just a few days away on November 4, and trade speculation continues to heat up. Contenders are looking for some last-minute reinforcements, while teams on losing streaks are starting to honestly assess their own situations and if they want to start selling off pieces.
This past week, four trades went down across the league — it’s not a full-blown trade bonanza just yet, but we saw some action. In total, five players were traded, and more are sure to come.
Below, I’ve graded each trade for both teams involved. My grades are based on both the value each side got and the context under which the trade occurred. Let’s dive in:
Rams get:
Titans get:
The Rams wanted to beef up their secondary, and they got their guy in McCreary. A second-round pick out of Auburn back in 2022, he’s on the final year of his rookie contract and will be a free agent after the season. The Rams will have a decision to make on extending him after the season, but for now, they get some reinforcements as they gear up for a run at a Super Bowl as one of the favorites in the NFC.
The details on this one are a little complicated. The Titans are getting the higher of the Rams’ two fifth-round picks, which was Tennessee’s pick originally anyway. The Rams get back the lowest of the Titans’ three sixth-round picks, which right now is trending to be Los Angeles’ original pick. These picks were previously swapped in the LB Ernest Jones Jr. trade just before the 2024 season.
McCreary is regarded as one of the better slot corners in the league, and he should be an immediate plug-and-play for the Rams once they get him up to speed in their scheme. Even this year, in what’s been a bit of a down year for him relative to his standards, he’s the 37th highest-graded cornerback in PFF’s system. In his short NFL career, he’s posted two seasons with more than 80 tackles and has 17 passes defensed.
The player the Rams are getting in McCreary is an absolute steal at this price, but his fit on the team is a bit questionable. McCreary is a slot-only corner, and that’s where the Rams currently play S Quentin Lake a lot, who’s been one of the best slot defenders and safeties in the NFL this season. McCreary’s addition likely pushes Lake outside or back to playing safety primarily, which is a gamble given just how good Lake has been in the slot this year.
Additionally, McCreary doesn’t upgrade Los Angeles’s size in the secondary. They employ a lot of undersized cornerbacks, including the likes of Darious Williams, Cobie Durant and Emmanuel Forbes. Williams has been solid while Durant and Forbes have been closer to replacement level, but all of them are small corners, as is McCreary....
