The Los Angeles Rams made a surprising swap on Thursday, sending second-year running back Jarquez Hunter to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for wide receiver Tutu Atwell, reuniting Atwell with the franchise that drafted him just five months after he left in free agency. The trade landed hours before the Rams’ final preseason game against the Chargers, with the NFL’s roster cutdown deadline arriving Sunday.
Atwell, 26, spent his first five NFL seasons in Los Angeles after the Rams took him in the second round of the 2021 draft. He left in March, signing a one-year, $1.4 million contract with his hometown Dolphins. The stint in Miami didn’t produce much: just six catches for 192 yards and a touchdown across the season. Hunter, meanwhile, was a fourth-round pick out of Auburn in 2025 who never got a regular-season offensive snap as a rookie, logging only 22 special-teams snaps across five games while stuck behind Kyren Williams and Blake Corum on the depth chart.
Why Both Sides Made the Move
The financial terms are modest on both ends. The Rams absorb roughly $1.075 million of Atwell’s remaining salary, well below the $10 million deal he played on with Los Angeles in 2025. Hunter carries about a $250,000 cap charge for the Dolphins this year, with additional money hitting Miami’s books in future seasons. For the Rams, it’s a low-cost swing to add proven depth and familiarity at receiver from a player who already knows Sean McVay’s system. For Miami, it’s a chance to give Hunter a real shot at touches behind De’Von Achane, something Los Angeles’ crowded backfield was never going to offer him.
Hunter had flashed some ability in this preseason, turning 21 carries into 103 yards and a touchdown over two exhibition games, including a 12-yard scoring run against New Orleans. But with Williams entrenched as the starter and Corum firmly in place as the primary backup, and Ronnie Rivers already occupying a special-teams role, there simply wasn’t a clear runway for Hunter in Los Angeles. Atwell, by contrast, slots into a Rams receiver room that already features Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, giving McVay a familiar option who can work the slot and take some pressure off the top two targets.
What It Means for the Betting Market
The move comes as the Rams enter the season as the outright favorite to win Super Bowl LXI, with futures odds generally listed around +550 — the shortest number for any team in the league. That favorite status was built on an aggressive offseason overhaul, and depth moves like this one, however small in cap terms, reinforce the sense that Los Angeles is leaving little to chance heading into cutdown weekend.
On the receiving props side, Nacua remains the clear centerpiece of the passing attack after leading the NFL in receptions a year ago, while Adams carries an intriguing regression angle after a touchdown-heavy 2025 that oddsmakers view as difficult to repeat. Adding a healthy Atwell back into that mix doesn’t threaten either player’s role at the top of the target hierarchy, but it does deepen the group behind them and gives Los Angeles more flexibility if injuries strike — a factor that can matter for team receiving-yardage totals and playoff-market pricing as the season unfolds. On the ground game side, Hunter’s departure clarifies the Rams backfield picture behind Williams and Corum, which could matter for anyone tracking backup running back roles in season-long or handcuff-style markets, while in Miami his path to carries behind Achane just opened up considerably.
