Apparently, the market for wide receiver Van Jefferson, at least if you're the Atlanta Falcons, was one that needed to be acted upon quickly.
On Tuesday morning, reports surfaced that the Los Angeles Rams were looking to trade the veteran wideout, Jefferson, as his role had diminished in the offense. Just hours later, Jefferson was switching coasts as the Rams and Falcons agreed to a trade.
Per NFL Media insider Ian Rapoport, the Falcons and Rams will swap Day 3 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft with Jefferson also going to Atlanta in the deal. Here's what the reported trade ultimately breaks down like.
The bigger question, as always, however, is how each of these teams made out in the trade. Let's take a look as we hand out grades to both franchises in this move.
NFL Trade Grades: Falcons take a flier for next to nothing, Rams move on
Falcons Trade Grade: B+
My initial reaction to the trade for the Falcons was, "Great, another receiver Desmond Ridder won't throw to". That's more of a statement on Arthur Smith's offense than anything, but there is some truth to it. Having said that, perhaps that approach offensively is also a byproduct of the lack of proven commodities in the Falcons receiver room. After Drake London, guys like Mack Hollins, KhaDarel Hodge and so on aren't exactly inspiring a ton of confidence.
Once taking this trade through that lens, it becomes a lot more enticing for the Falcons. Ridder is an imperfect quarterback but he does appear to be taking strides. Getting him a target who is only in year four and had an 800-yard, six-touchdown season in 2021 can only help the second-year passer get more comfortable. And for the price, it's hard to think this was anything but a low-risk, high-reward move for Atlanta.
Rams Trade Grade: C
With the emergence of Puka Nacua as a rookie and, likewise, Tutu Atwell breaking out in year two in the Rams offense, it always made sense that they would try to move someone in the wide receiver room with Jefferson being the obvious option.
In the end, getting up into the sixth-round for another pick in 2025 does work well for the timeline in Los Angeles as the franchise enters what could best be described as a soft rebuild. The more valuable draft capital they have, the better. Having said that, though, the fact of the matter is that LA got almost nothing in this trade -- a Day 3 pick is only but so valuable. It's better than actually getting nothing for Jefferson, but it's hard to think this really moves the needle all that much.
