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The Rams could be very good this year. They could make it to the Super Bowl. They could win it.
The path got tougher when running back Cam Akers, a potential star for 2021, tore an Achilles tendon just before training camp began. The Rams did not declare an emergency at the time. They now have.
The trade to Patriots running back Sony Michel comes just over a month after coach Sean McVay said the Rams would stay with the guys they have.
“We have young full backs in our roster that I’m intrigued to see how they handle this opportunity,” said McVay following Akers’ injury. “I don’t know if the veterans route is something we would rule out, but it’s not something we are looking to tackle immediately at the moment.”
A serious foot injury from Raymond Calais and a thumb injury more recently suffered by new starter Darrell Henderson may have become the last straw for the Rams when it comes to relying on young players in the l ‘alignment.
Admittedly, the trade for Michel (who ran for 94 yards and a touchdown in Super Bowl LIII against the Rams) didn’t happen overnight. Chances are, the conversations started soon after Akers got injured, the Patriots set a price, and the Rams hesitated. If so, the Rams (with the regular season looming) recently decided to finalize the deal and move on.
They are either giving up a fifth and sixth round pick in 2022 or the fourth compensatory round they’ll get for losing safety John Johnson in free agency. That seems like a lot to give up for a former Georgian hatchback with multiple injuries, including a potentially degenerative knee condition, especially since the Rams are not very far on the grand scheme of things to evade a contract with an old Georgian tailgate with multiple injuries, including a degenerative knee condition.
In the coming days, many young, healthy and capable full backs will be available as the rosters drop from 80 to 53. Other veterans can be obtained without sacrificing draft picks, such as Frank Gore and Adrian Petersen. (Todd Gurley – the other former Georgia hatchback mentioned above – is also available. But a reunion was still highly unlikely.)
As a league source put it, “Great business for New England. The Rams hate to write these days.
Indeed, they do. Without a first round pick next year or the following year, that fourth compensatory round would have been useful. Now he’s used on a running back entering the final year of his rookie contract because he hasn’t done enough in his first three seasons for the Patriots to take the fifth-year option.
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