The San Francisco 49ers pulled off a blockbuster trade to acquire Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers in exchange for a trove of draft picks. On Sunday, ahead of McCaffrey's 49ers' debut, ESPN's Peter Schrager revealed that the Rams were among the teams at the forefront of the McCaffrey trade market. Schrager revealed that Los Angeles had offered the Panthers a package of draft capital, in true Les Snead fashion, but were ultimately outbid by the Niners.

Schrager reports that the Rams offered the Panthers a package consisting of a second-round pick, a third-round pick, and a fifth-round pick. In the end, their efforts were upended by the Niners, who were willing to toss in an additional fourth-rounder to get the deal done.

The 49ers traded 2023 second, third, and fourth-round draft picks, as well as a 2024 fifth-round pick to the Panthers in exchange for McCaffrey, in a deal that instantly saw their Super Bowl odds spike.

The need at running back was clear for the 49ers after Elijah Mitchell went down with a knee injury early in the year. While Mitchell figures to return at some point, getting a player like McCaffrey to bolster their squad was too good to pass up. While McCaffrey has battled with injury issues throughout his career, when healthy, he's one of the most dynamic and explosive players in the game. Adding him to their ranks while simultaneously preventing the Rams from nabbing him is a huge move for San Francisco.

The Rams will surely be disappointed to have lost out on arguably the crowning jewel of the trade deadline market, but they'll still be active in trade talks as they seek out a landing spot for Cam Akers.