The reigning Super Bowl champions should have plenty of company sitting out the first round of the NFL draft next week.
The Los Angeles Rams haven't made a selection in the opening round since taking Jared Goff in 2016 and don't have another first-round pick until 2024, but this year they're set to be part of a record eight teams that have traded away their first-round picks in what has become a growing trend in recent years.
Whether it's teams emulating the Rams' model of flipping uncertain picks for cost-controlled rookies for more proven veterans with more lucrative contracts, or others that followed the path the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills used by trading future first-round picks to move up to take a potential franchise quarterback, teams are opting out of the first round of the draft at a furious pace.
This will mark the third time in four years that at least seven teams won't make a pick in the first round - barring one of those teams trading back up, something that happened just twice in the first 52 years of the common draft.
SiriusXM analyst Mark Dominik said the increased salary cap, more power for players and general managers who are willing to take more risks have led to the change.
"I think that's the unique thing is because players are actually getting a little bit more aggressive in their stance and clubs are willing to do that," said Dominik, a former GM for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "Twenty years ago, if you tried to cross (former Chiefs GM) Carl Peterson, you'd never play football again. ... That mentality has kind of gone in the league. That's why you've seen more first-round draft picks moved and traded, because clubs are willing to do that.
"Therefore, having a known commodity, especially because some of these guys are elite, is better than having that first-round pick that you're hoping is what you can be."
No one has been as aggressive as the Rams and GM Les Snead. He traded two first-round picks to move up to take quarterback Jared Goff in 2016, traded another first-round pick for receiver Brandin Cooks in 2018, traded out of the first round in 2019 for more picks, dealt two first-rounders to acquire All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey and dealt two more for veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford.
It added up to a Super Bowl-winning roster last season.
"The model is working," Snead said. "It's allowing us to consistently win games, consistently contend for the NFC West (Division title). We'll try to use our picks in an innovative, creative way, and sometimes it will be picking players in the draft and sometimes it will be using them to go acquire players."
The aggressiveness has rubbed off on other teams looking to match the success the Rams have enjoyed in recent years.
Denver Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett said there's never "too high of a price on anybody that's great," and especially when it comes to quarterbacks. Denver had been dealing with a revolving door of mediocrity at the sport's most important position since Peyton Manning retired seven years ago but now has Russell Wilson - who led the Seattle Seahawks to two Super Bowls and one title - in place.
"You can ask all these guys around here. You have to have a quarterback to have a chance," Hackett said at the team owners' meetings last month. "It's whatever it takes to get a quarterback."
Of the eight teams that have given away their first-round picks this year, the Broncos were one of six who did it in trades for quarterbacks, along with the Rams, Chicago Bears (Justin Fields), Cleveland Browns (Deshaun Watson), Indianapolis Colts (Carson Wentz) and San Francisco 49ers (Trey Lance).
The other teams to do it were the Las Vegas Raiders and Miami Dolphins, who both traded top picks away to add game-breaking receivers they hope can get more out of their existing quarterbacks. The Raiders added Davante Adams from the Green Bay Packers and the Dolphins acquired Tyreek Hill from the Chiefs.
After making 11 picks in the top 100 of the past two drafts to rebuild the roster, the Dolphins aren't scheduled to pick until No. 102 this year. They used those picks to move up in the draft last year to take receiver Jaylen Waddle and offensive tackle Liam Eichenberg and then make the deal for Hill.
"We've been building here for the last few years," Miami GM Chris Grier said. "The chance to get aggressive and adding a talented top player at a position is something we just felt was too good to pass up."
There are already five teams that have traded away their 2023 first-round picks, with the Rams and 49ers dealing away those picks last year when they got their quarterbacks, the Browns trading three years of first-round picks for Watson, the Broncos giving up a second first-round pick for Wilson and the New Orleans Saints trading their 2023 first-rounder for an extra first-rounder this year.
The trend shows little sign of easing.
"Any team that has success you become inquisitive, and you want to know the why ...'" New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas said. "So again there's a lot of different ways to skin a cat in terms of roster building. It's just what your core philosophy is at the end of the day."