The San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks are loading up for an NFC West arms race, but Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay apparently has no intention of joining them. 

At least not yet, anyway. 

With the November 10th NFL trade deadline approaching and the Rams desperately trying to salvage a season that began with Super Bowl expectations, McVay revealed Wednesday that Los Angeles currently has no plans to make a splash, despite watching its division rivals bolster their rosters this week. 

Instead, the Rams are banking on a different kind of blockbuster acquisition: getting their own injured stars back on the football field.

“Based on our situation, the good thing for us is, hopefully, some of those trades will be guys getting back from injury that haven’t played for us,” McVay said. “That’s kind of the way that we look at it.”

It’s a bold strategy for a team that entered the season as a Super Bowl favorite and stumbled to a 2-4 record through six games.

Seattle acquired All-Pro offensive guard Quenton Nelson from the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday, while San Francisco added three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner from the same team.

Meanwhile, Rams general manager Les Snead appears content to stand pat while the competition reloads. Which begs the question, what he and McVay must be thinking as they try and claw their way back into the NFC Playoff picture as their rivals add ammunition. 

The Rams made most of their big moves in the offseason, when they acquired All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, and reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award winner Myles Garrett. 

However, Garrett hasn’t played since Week 1 and McDuffie has missed the last two games with a groin jury. Things have clearly not worked out as the Rams had planned, and now the preseason Super Bowl favorites have fallen behind the 49ers and Seahawks in the division. 

If there’s one place of need for the Rams, it’s the same position they did not address during the offseason: a third wide receiver. 

The Rams could have drafted Makai Lemon out of USC with the 13th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, or another receiver, but instead chose to draft quarterback Ty Simpson who is not expected to play this season or even next season. 

Outside of Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, the Rams were incredibly thin at the receiver position and with Nacua dealing with nagging injuries and Adams now on injured reserve with a ruptured hamstring, adding a receiver could be a particular place of need for the Rams. 

The Rams have brought back Tutu Atwell and turned to second-year receiver Konata Mumpfield, but neither has established himself as the consistent vertical threat Matthew Stafford needs alongside Nacua.

And with Los Angeles already without its first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, tanking isn’t exactly an attractive escape route.

McVay, however, believes the biggest reinforcements could already be inside the Rams’ training facility.

“With the amount of guys that have not been available that are key and focal points for really both sides of the football, you look at those guys hopefully being able to return within a month,” McVay said. “That’s kind of where that value lies for us.”

That includes defensive end Myles Garrett and several other injured starters whose eventual returns could dramatically change the Rams’ outlook.

For Stafford, however, worrying about potential acquisitions or the NFC West arms race is a distraction from the more immediate challenge: beating the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday and putting together a winning streak before the season slips away.

“I don’t think we look at the big picture of that maybe as much as some of the outside world does,” Stafford said Wednesday. “We’re here on a Wednesday trying to figure out what we’re going to do on normal down and distance against the Chargers.”

With so many talented players sidelined, Stafford knows the Rams can’t afford to wait for reinforcements before playing with a sense of desperation.

“I think the urgency anytime you step on a field, especially in the NFL, should be high,” Stafford said. “Urgency should be at an all-time high every time you step out there. Just go out there and do the best you can.”

Of course, McVay didn’t completely slam the door on a potential deal.

“Like I’ve told you in years past, you always think about it,” he said.

Translation: If the right player becomes available at the right price, never count out Snead, whose reputation was built on aggressive moves designed to chase championships.

But for now, the Rams are playing the waiting game while their NFC West rivals play the trading game.

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