The Rams and Tutu Atwell just can’t seem to quit each other.

After spending four seasons trying to find a consistent role for the former second-round pick, Los Angeles let Atwell leave for Miami this offseason. Five months later, he’s already back with the team after the Rams traded for him in exchange for running back Jarquez Hunter.

On the surface, it’s a minor late-August trade involving two players who were buried on their respective depth charts. But with Atwell, there’s always a little more to the story.

The Rams drafted him in the second round in 2021, spent years waiting for his big breakthrough, and then gave him a fully guaranteed one-year, $10 million contract last March.

He caught just six passes all year.

Apparently, the Rams still think there’s something here.

The Rams Have Tried This Before

Atwell’s first run with the Rams wasn’t quite as useless as the contract jokes made it sound.

He caught 81 passes for 1,045 yards over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, giving Matthew Stafford a legitimate deep threat whenever injuries pushed him into a bigger role. Sean McVay even admitted before last season that he hadn’t done “a good enough job” using Atwell and said the receiver would see the field much more often in three-receiver sets.

That plan lasted about six weeks.

Atwell suffered a hamstring injury, but the bigger issue was that the Rams found a completely different offensive identity while he was out. After spending most of the McVay era in three-receiver personnel, Los Angeles suddenly started putting three tight ends on the field. From Week 7 on, the Rams used 13 personnel on nearly 45% of their offensive snaps and averaged an absurd 0.22 expected points added per play from those formations.

There just wasn’t much room left for a third receiver who didn’t contribute on special teams.

Atwell finished 2025 with six catches for 192 yards and one touchdown. Even that tiny stat line included the perfect reminder of why McVay has always been so intrigued by him: averaging 32 yards a reception — even on just six catches — is beyond impressive.

Atwell can disappear for weeks at a time. He can also change an entire game with one deep ball from Stafford.

This Reunion Is About One Specific Job

Nobody should look at this trade and assume the Rams are suddenly planning another big Tutu Atwell breakout.

Puka Nacua and Davante Adams are still the clear top two receivers. Jordan Whittington's in the mix, and the Rams have younger options like Konata Mumpfield and CJ Daniels. Plus, those heavy personnel packages that pushed Atwell to the side last season worked way too well for Sean McVay to abandon them just because he's back.

McVay said the move gives the Rams some extra depth and another “speed element” in the receiver room. He also said it had nothing to do with the possibility of a Nacua suspension.

The Rams know what they’re getting here. Atwell already knows the offense and brings a type of speed the rest of the room doesn’t really have. He can clear out coverage, make safeties think twice about cheating up and, every now and then, turn one target into a huge play.

The price made sense, too. Hunter was a 2025 fourth-round pick who played just 22 special-teams snaps as a rookie and was still buried behind Kyren Williams, Blake Corum, and Ronnie Rivers. He ran for 103 yards in the preseason, but it was hard to see where his regular-season role would come from.

Miami had a similar issue with Atwell. The Dolphins signed him to a one-year, $1.4 million deal in March, then watched rookies Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell, and Kevin Coleman Jr. make their cases in a rebuilding receiver room. Turning a player who might not've made the roster into a 23-year-old running back was a pretty good move on their end.

All stats courtesy of NFL Pro.

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