Les Snead went FULL TILT AGAIN! Von Miller is now a Ram and the defense that the internet complained about for months is now scary again. Von Miller is one of the most fearsome pass-rushers in the league and suddenly what appeared to be one of the biggest weaknesses on this team is now a strength.
After Kenny Young was traded out of nowhere for a late-round pick, speculation ran wild as to what Les Snead was cooking up. Myles Jack was a name that frequently came up in the rumor mill but given that Young was traded to the Broncos it seemed unlikely that they were sending another player because he would’ve come back in the deal. That was clearly wrong and while the compensation looks like a typical mortgage move, Les Snead ended up getting Von Miller and didn’t have to give up a principal’s ransom to do it.
The deal looks like this: Von Miller is traded to the Rams for their 2022 2nd and 3rd round picks. BUT the Broncos are paying $9 million of Von Miller’s $9.7 million salary this season. Essentially it’s the Angels paying the Dodgers to let Albert Pujols chase a ring for them.
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This is a curious move for the Broncos as they are 4-4 and still have an outside shot at the playoffs. They have Bradley Chubb coming off an injury and they already had a gaping hole at linebacker. That said, it’s possible the Broncos know they’re really building for something next year and are in the process of shedding salary.
For the Rams, they are definitely ALL IN as they now have their third-round comp pick for Brad Holmes, a fifth-round pick, and two seventh-rounders. Barring of course any fourth-round comp picks that come their way. That might seem like they’re screwed for the foreseeable future but that’s a lazy mode of thinking. The Rams always find players on days two and three to build out their roster and haven’t needed a first-round pick since 2016 so they’ll be fine.
The on-field impact will be IMMEDIATE. The Rams had an ongoing struggle to find a quality linebacker beyond Leonard Floyd. Justin Hollins is out until very late in the season, Kenny Young is gone, Terrell Lewis is always an injury risk, and Ernest Jones is a rookie. They never could find a consistent pass-rusher and that has caused the defense to struggle especially in terms of giving up big plays. Von Miller solves nearly all of that.
Floyd will have a much easier time getting to the quarterback and the run defense should get a boost as well as Sebastian-Joseph Day should have fewer resources dedicated to him. Von accumulated 28 total pressures this season. Put that with the 32 and 38 pressures for Floyd and Aaron Donald, respectively, and that should strike fear in the hearts of offenses league-wide.
Surely, there will still be grumbling about the Rams not solving their return issues, receiver depth, or firing Raheem Morris but this trade is a gigantic win. They are entering a stretch of their season where they have to play the Titans, Niners, Packers, as well as play the Seahawks and Cardinals again. They also have the Vikings later this year. The Rams have no margin of error if they wish to win the division and get home-field throughout the playoffs. Floyd, Donald, and Miller are a three-headed Ghidorah that the rest of the league will have to solve, and once again Les Snead saw a need, made like Teddy KGB and the rest of the league will have to sit back and watch him eat his celebratory Oreos.
