LOS ANGELES — After the Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl on Sunday over the Cincinnati Bengals, we're hearing all about how L.A.'s "all-in" approach paid off and got them the Lombardi Trophy.
It started over the summer when the Rams traded away former No. 1 pick Jared Goff, THREE first round draft picks and a third round draft pick in order to acquire 33-year-old (now 34) quarterback Matthew Stafford from Detroit.
The Rams kept going, signing Odell Beckham Jr. midseason and they traded for veteran linebacker Von Miller, giving away more top draft choices.
It was a big risk for the Rams that paid off. It was Super Bowl or bust. Since it worked, what other NFL teams might try this sort of thing?
On the Locked On Today podcast, Locked On Saints and Locked On NFL podcast host Ross Jackson joined Peter Bukowski to discuss which NFL teams are in a place to make the same sort of moves the Rams did that propelled them to Super Bowl LVI.
SUBSCRIBE: The Locked On Today podcast hosted by Peter Bukowski gets you caught up every morning on the biggest stories in sports without taking up your free time.
Jackson said there is one team in particular that has a real chance to start the process now to go all-in for another Super Bowl win, and that's the Philadelphia Eagles.
"They swindled the Indianapolis Colts for a first round pick, the failed experiment. They have three first round picks, two of them back-to-back at 15 and 16, another one at 19, they have a 51 and they have an 83," Jackson said on Locked On Today. "They are in a position right now to instead of throwing spaghetti at the wall in the draft and hoping something sticks, they could potentially make moves for some of these players that are on the move, on the market elsewhere."
"You go out and get Russell Wilson and all of a sudden you have a pretty talented roster," host Peter Bukowski said.
Russell Wilson may be one of many quarterbacks potentially on the move in an offseason that is expected to have plenty of fireworks at the quarterback position.
Bukowski also noted that Eagles GM Howie Roseman has been down this road before in regards to the salary cap, helping the Eagles to win their 2018 Super Bowl and they've just now built themselves back together.
But is this approach worth it? Certainly the Rams show it could be, but another franchise that has done similarly for years with the salary cap, constantly pushing free agents over draft picks has been the New Orleans Saints. But, Jackson said the Eagles could navigate this different than New Orleans did.
"The way the Saints did it to themselves is through free agency as opposed to through the trade market," Jackson said. "If you're doing it through the trade market and you're moving assets around, it's a little bit different because you're inheriting other people's contracts."
"The Saints were able to do it in a way to where they conscientiously making decisions based upon the contracts the contracts that they were negotiating with free agents, in house free agents and homegrown talent," Jackson said. "The danger of doing it is inheriting a bad contract from a bad GM or bad organization and not being able to make changes you need to make in order to keep your head above water in regards to the NFL salary cap."
A number of teams could be calling about a number of quarterbacks this offseason for potential trade discussions including the Packers and Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson with the Seahawks, Tua Tagovailoa with Miami, although more unlikely now, Deshaun Watson in Houston and others.
The Eagles certainly have the number of assets needed to make a big deal, like the Rams did in throwing three first round picks to Detroit for Stafford. Or, they could keep Jalen Hurts and work to find high-priced players at other positions who may be looking for a new situation.