Could win-now Rams trade for Eagles' A.J. Brown, Raiders' Maxx Crosby?

In March, Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead confirmed that the club considered acquiring Philadelphia Eagles wantaway wide receiver A.J. Brown and trading away veteran wideout Davante Adams. 

No such deals materialized, and it is now widely expected that the Eagles will trade Brown to the New England Patriots via a transaction that won't become official before June 1 for reasons related to the salary cap. For a mailbag published on Thursday, Rams reporter Nate Atkins of The Athletic was asked if Los Angeles could swoop in and basically steal Brown from New England. 

Why Rams have seemingly made this A.J. Brown decision

"The Rams decided they did not want to move off Adams just yet, thanks to the red zone cheat code he provided [quarterback Matthew Stafford] with 14 touchdowns in 14 games," Atkins explained. "They chose the present over the future here. I’m hearing that discussions are over at this point. I never say never with the Rams and potential big moves, but the expectation in league circles for some time has been that Brown will wind up with the New England Patriots."

The perception exists that the Rams are a win-now team, as Stafford confirmed on the same night that he was revealed as the Most Valuable Player for the 2025 regular season that he would be returning to serve as the club's QB1 for another campaign. That said, he will turn 39 years old in February 2027, and he teased this past winter that he was thinking about retiring at that time. 

Those Maxx Crosby trade rumors aren't going anywhere

One of the more stunning developments of this offseason involved the Baltimore Ravens backing out of a trade for Las Vegas Raiders star pass-rusher Maxx Crosby because the Ravens were reportedly worried about a "degenerative issue" in Crosby's knee. A Wednesday update indicated that teams could call the Raiders about Crosby's availability this coming fall, and Atkins thinks the Rams could be one of those clubs.

"I’d also keep an eye on Maxx Crosby," Atkins added. "He seems to have mended things with the Las Vegas Raiders after the trade to the Baltimore Ravens was reversed, but the organization’s approach could change if the Raiders hit another tough start to a season."

In short, it sounds like Snead may be ready to pounce if the Raiders start the 2026 season with a record of 2–6 or 1–7.