Tom Brady’s departure from the New England Patriots wouldn’t seem to have much of an effect on the Los Angeles Rams. They play in different conferences, only meet once every four years and can’t meet in the playoffs unless it’s in the Super Bowl.
However, Brady’s landing spot could have a ripple effect that spreads from Tampa Bay to Los Angeles.
Brady is set to sign with the Buccaneers after leaving the Patriots, partnering up with Bruce Arians, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Tampa Bay would seem set on offense after adding Brady, but what if the Bucs want to surround their new QB with even more weapons?
The Rams have two players who might be of interest: Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks.
Gurley’s name has reportedly popped up in trade talks this week as Los Angeles considers moving on from its star running back. Trading him will free up $4.65 million in cap space for the Rams, freeing them of the huge contract they gave him less than two years ago.
Trading Cooks is much tougher than Gurley, even if his upside is greater. If the Rams ship him out of town, they’ll take on a dead cap hit of $17.8 million, which is $1 million more than his cap hit of $16.8 million in 2020. In other words, it’ll cost them more to trade him than keep him.
But, the Buccaneers might just be the perfect landing spot for both players. Tampa Bay has the second-most cap space in the NFL at the moment, sitting on more than $60 million, according to Over The Cap. They could easily fit Gurley’s and Cooks’ contracts under the cap and have room to spare, which not many teams can say.
Additionally, the Bucs are clearly in win-now mode after landing Brady. He’ll be 43 in August and probably won’t play more than two more years, which means their Super Bowl window is more open now than it will be three years down the road.
They have one pick in each of the first three rounds, and two in the fourth round. As their roster currently sits, it’s probably good enough to get to the playoffs next season. The offensive line is strong, the receiving corps is top-heavy with Evans and Godwin, and the tight end room features Cameron Brate and O.J. Howard. Ronald Jones was a second-round pick in 2018, but he shouldn’t preclude the Bucs from going after Gurley.
The defense needs help, specifically at cornerback, but Shaq Barrett, Devin White, Vita Vea and Lavonte David are solid building blocks. In other words, the Buccaneers could afford to part ways with a couple of their earlier picks, be it in 2020 or 2021.
Tampa Bay could also give the Rams someone like Vea in a package deal for Gurley and Cooks, if Los Angeles is seeking help at nose tackle.
Adding Gurley and Cooks to an already loaded offense might be enough to put the Buccaneers over the top as one of the legitimate Super Bowl contenders in the NFC. The two Rams stars seem open to playing with Brady, too.
Gurley and Cooks both liked Tweets suggesting they pair up with the six-time Super Bowl champion.
Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks are just adding fuel to the fire pic.twitter.com/OxmaG0LVJW
— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) March 18, 2020
The Rams still have a lot of hurdles to clear and hoops to jump through if they want to trade Gurley and Cooks – or just one of the two – but where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And there certainly seems to be plenty of smoke surrounding these trade rumors.
The Buccaneers, after landing Brady, might just be the best landing spot for Gurley and Cooks.