The Los Angeles Rams have reportedly been trying to trade Davante Adams to no avail, which isn’t that surprising from a practical standpoint because of his age, his injury history, and his lack of significant value outside of the 10-yard line. But those odds of the Rams being able to trade Adams actually went up — not down — after Sunday’s news that they’ve paid a $6 million roster bonus.
That’s now $6 million that another team does not have to pay.
ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio took the opposite approach of saying that L.A. is now likely to keep Adams because of paying the bonus, but I think that overlooks two important probabilities:
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1) The Rams don’t care about $6 million like you and I would care about $6 million. It’s a small amount.
2) Other teams can now see Adams as “affordable” at an $18 million base salary instead of “over-budget” at $24 million.
It’s really that simple. Adams is still overpaid…and I mean, he’s DRAMATICALLY overpaid. But at $18 million he will cost the same as Terry McLaurin instead of what the Rams are paying him as which is like he’s still a top-4 wideout. He’s not even a top-20 wideout.
But at $18 million with the chance to cut that down a little bit more, another team might actually find Adams to be financially viable after Sunday.
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How many teams could have afforded Adams?
Prior to Sunday, more than half of the NFL had less cap space than the $24 million that Adams has been owed in 2026. That’s a non-starter for them and it includes some of these WR-needy teams:
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Bills (worst cap situation)
Buffalo was able to trade for D.J. Moore. The Raiders probably aren’t going to trade for Adams again. But L.A.‘s options are that much more limited when not only does a team have to trade a pick for Adams, they also have to find $18 million to pay him including a $6 million roster bonus on March 15th.
As of Sunday, that second thing isn’t true anymore:
-The acquiring team would pay Adams an $18 million base salary paid out during the season.
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That’s more attractive trade asset as a 34-year-old receiver than the premise that a team is supposed to trade for Adams last week, pay him $6 million immediately, and then just pray that he gets to Week 1 without any new or old injuries popping up. Most teams just don’t have $24 million of cap space (this is including what they are supposed to pay their rookie class) and adding Adams is complicated.
The most logical reason for the Rams not trading Adams prior to Sunday, similar to why the Eagles haven’t traded A.J. Brown, is that:
It was not financially sound.
The Eagles are more likely to trade Brown after June 1st and the Rams…
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Well, now the Rams could potentially trade Adams at any point between now and the 2026 trade deadline. In fact, if Adams gets to the regular season and plays decently for two months but for whatever reason isn’t helping the Rams that much, then his salary cap will have been cut in half by making $1 million per game.
Every day between now and the deadline makes it that much more likely that Adams could be traded. Or a trade could come much sooner.
What would it cost the Rams to trade Adams?
If the Rams had found a taker before Sunday, they would have saved $14 million against the 2026 salary cap. Now that the $6 million bonus is paid, those numbers change:
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$20 million in dead money
The major sticking point for teams will be the $18 million base salary for a 34-year-old receiver who had 789 receiving yards last season.
However, there are two obvious ways to combat that roadblock:
1) Trade an overpaid player back to the Rams.
2) Extend Adams by adding a year or two to the deal but not guaranteeing future money. Adams might accept because 0% of his 2026 base salary is guaranteed and this contract could give him a guarantee.
“Hey, we’ll guarantee you $15 million but we need to bring down your base salary to $6 million.”
By the Rams eating that $6 million bonus — which is $4 million less than what they paid Tutu Atwell last year — they make it much easier for a team to trade for Adams and workout a new deal.
When could the Rams trade Adams?
Whenever. At any time. Here’s a scenario:
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It’s Day 1 of the draft
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The Rams draft WR Jordyn Tyson
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It’s Day 2 of the draft
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Around pick 50-60, a team accepts that they didn’t get a WR in the draft
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Rams and Team A talk on the phone
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Team A trades pick 90ish and 200ish to the Rams for Adams
Let’s say you are the L.A. Chargers and you didn’t pick a WR. You’ve got Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, and Tre Harris. You’ve got the 2nd-most cap space in the NFL. Why not trade picks 86 and 204 to the Rams for Adams to give Justin Herbert a red zone weapon, maybe you throw in Johnston, and Adams doesn’t even have to move. He stays in L.A..
On the Rams side, they save $8 million in cap space and they add a couple of picks, which Les Snead will want because of previous trades and a gap between rounds 3 and 6.
Not needing to pay the $6 million bonus and being able to afford the $18 million, the Chargers would be a logical trade partner for Adams because they can’t get over the hump in the playoffs with Herbert and Jim Harbaugh.
Is Adams too much like adding Keenan Allen in 2025? Maybe. It’s just one idea.
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But if the Rams were seriously looking to trade Adams this month, and it only tracks that they were, it makes far more sense that they’ll be trying to trade him next month. And the odds are good that at some point, Snead will succeed.
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