Carolina Panthers’ latest behind-the-scenes reveals the LA Rams tried to make a blockbuster trade into top 10

Panthers almost traded eighth pick with the LA Rams

According to the latest episode of the Panthers Blueprint, the franchise had a pre-draft trade agreement in place with the LA Rams.

The two sides had clearly discussed a trade in the build-up to the draft, based on the discussions that were ongoing during the episode. While giving fans an exclusive look at the behind-the-scenes of the draft, Carolina were expecting a call as soon as they got on the clock.

As pick seven went through, the VP of Football Operations, Brandt Tilis, said, ‘Let’s wait and see if the Rams call.’

Tilis said he knew the Panthers had an opportunity to trade their pick at eight as soon as Mason Graham was selected at five by the Cleveland Browns. There would be teams interested in various playmakers, multiple of which would be available when the Panthers were on the clock.

He went on to say that the compensation for that potential trade with the Rams was complicated, given the distance between the two teams in the first round order.

Carolina were sitting at eight, while the Rams held the 26th pick much later in the round. They did in fact call to negotiate the deal too, but their offer wasn’t quite what it had been when they discussed it before the draft.

Tilis said:

“Before the draft even started on Thursday, we had it figured out that it’s going to take this for us to move back to 26.”

They were on the clock, with the Rams asking if they wanted to go ahead and execute the trade.

GM Dan Morgan said it would have taken ‘the moon’ to trade out of that spot, and Tilis is seen on the video footage claiming:

“It’s still not the same deal we talked about.”

Carolina stood firm, pushing back on the Rams, which ultimately led to them dropping out of the deal. The Panthers then stayed put at eight, and selected Tet McMillan.

The Rams’ intention behind trading up 18 picks

While the eventual result made sense for Carolina, arguably landing the best receiver in the draft, the curiosity as to who the Rams were trying to trade up for has quickly heated up online.

Many believe it was a move for a major playmaker at tight end, expected to be Colston Loveland out of Michigan, who was selected 10th overall by the Chicago Bears. Penn State TE Tyler Warren could have also been a part of that conversation, going off the board four picks later at 14, to the Indianapolis Colts.

It would have been a significant haul of picks to trade up that far, and the Rams ultimately decided they were better off turning it down.

Eventually, LA traded out of the first round entirely, while securing a first-round pick in 2026 during a trade with the Atlanta Falcons . They selected tight end Terrance Ferguson in the second round of the draft, leading to the suspicions that they were chasing one of the first-round tight ends with their potential trade into the top 10.

Veteran TE Tyler Higbee is in the final year of his deal in LA, and Sean McVay wanted to find his long-term replacement in the 2025 draft.