Considering they waited until the very end of the draft to take a wide receiver, you wouldn’t think the Los Angeles Rams were targeting one in the first round. Not only were they reportedly eyeing a couple of wideouts, but they even tried to trade all the way up from No. 26 to 8.
A trade never materialized and they wound up going the opposite direction by trading back to No. 46, bailing on the first round altogether. So why didn’t they get a deal done with the Carolina Panthers for the eighth overall pick?
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It sounds like the asking price was astronomical. The Panthers entertained offers for the pick from teams eyeing Tetairoa McMillan, but they were never serious about moving back unless they got a king’s ransom.
There are new details about those negotiations in a story on the Panthers’ site, detailing how Carolina was only going to trade the eighth pick to the Rams if it got “a load of picks out of them.”
That’s why when the Rams called — as they did last year, giving the Panthers a future second so they could move up in the 2024 draft — Morgan asked for a lot, just in case they said yes.
“It’s like if they want this, they’re going to have to go above and beyond, kind of like what they did to us last year when they gave us the two,” Morgan said. “That’s because I was convicted on our guy. I really don’t want to lose this player. But if we are going to lose the player, and it’s something that could potentially set us up for the future, if we get a load of picks out of them, then let’s explore it.
“But I didn’t really want to. I was kind of hoping that they would say no. So when they said no at the end, I was fine with it. I was actually like, ‘Sweet.'”
The Panthers wanted McMillan all along and they weren’t going to lose him simply for the sake of moving back. They needed to set themselves up for the future in any deal that would cause them to lose the Arizona receiver and the Rams weren’t willing to meet their asking price.
In all likelihood, the Rams would’ve had to give up the 26th pick, a future first-rounder and likely even one of their third-rounders at No. 90 or 101. Instead, the Rams acquired a 2026 first-round pick from the Falcons in their trade back, which they were thrilled with.
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So rather than being without a first-rounder in 2026, the Rams now have two of them – and they still got an impact player in Terrance Ferguson, who they were reportedly considering at No. 26 overall.
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This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: 2025 NFL Draft: New details about Rams’ attempt to trade for No. 8