“They didn’t realize it was just a form of self-expression, so when I got admitted, that was one of the things they wanted to cure me from,” Von D said.
“I don’t know whose idea it was, but at one point the counselor set me aside and basically told me that I had contracted HIV from a tattoo.”
The KVD Beauty creator said she was around 15 at the time and claims she had to undergo a series of blood tests and stool samples.
“They told me that I had contracted HIV from a tattoo, and this is after they take your blood and a stool test and a urine test and all that, and so you’re sitting there with somebody that you think is qualified, who absolutely has zero credentials,” she said.
Kat Von D claims a school official at Provo Canyon once told her she contracted HIV from her tattoos.Getty Images for Art Hearts Fash
“I can’t even believe that happened,” she added.
Von D said her parents put her in Provo — which was heavily featured in Hilton’s documentary, “This Is Paris” — because they “were terrified of the tattoo world.”
She noted, however, “I think parents are the first victims, because these schools or institutes pretty much prey on the fear that parents have.”
The “LA Ink” alum said she went through her “entire life” thinking she had the potentially deadly virus until she got tested again on her own around age 17 or 18, and then realized, “‘OK cool, I’m gonna be OK.’”
Von D, seen here with husband Rafael Reyes, says Provo Canyon is the “root” of her substance abuse issues.Getty Images for Art Hearts Fash
In October 2020, following the release of Hilton’s documentary, Von D decided to speak out for the first time about her own abuse allegations against her former school, calling it the “most traumatic six months” of her life.
She said in a lengthy Instagram video at the time, “Watching [Hilton] talk about some of her past trauma going to this school that her parents sent her as a teenager — I don’t like to call them schools because they’re not schools, they’re f—king lockdown facilities. It just triggered so much s—t for me because it turns out I went to the same school.”
This was also the first time the reality star disclosed a counselor allegedly suggested to her that she had contracted HIV and she was “sure” that it was from tattooing.
Von D said in her caption for the video that she suffers from “major PTSD and other traumas due to the unregulated, unethical and abusive protocols of this ‘school.’”
Dr. Adam McLain, Group Director and Chief Executive Officer at Provo Canyon School, did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment on Von D’s allegations.
Von Miller thought about coming back to the Rams, the team he won a second Super Bowl ring with just last month. He considered a return to Denver, too. But when push came to shove, he found he wanted to go to Buffalo, for himself as much as anything else.
“I feel like I let [the Rams] down,” Miller told reporters. “I feel like I’m breaking up with my girlfriend. That’s just me and the way I go about my business. But this was one time in my life where I had to make a decision for me.”
Miller inked a six-year, $120 million deal — $51 million in guaranteed money — with the Bills on Thursday. He expects to get another ring in addition to the money.
“[The Bills] are gonna win a Super Bowl with or without me,” Miller said. “They’ve built an amazing team.”
Buffalo followed an AFC title game appearance in 2020 with an 11-6 record, AFC East title and divisional round exit in an instant classic against the Chiefs in 2021. They do indeed seem to be on the cusp of something special.
Miller, a former Super Bowl MVP who had 9.5 sacks last season, can help them get there.
Fresh off his second Super Bowl, Von Miller joined the Bills with an eye on the third.AP Photo
“It had to be the Buffalo Bills,” Miller said. “What they’ve created here — it had to be the Bills Mafia. This environment that they’ve created here, it drawed me away from that. It’s not gonna be the weather. The weather is gonna be the weather. But what they’re doing inside this facility, what they’re doing in this community, what they’re doing on the football field and off the football field, man, I had to be a part of it.”
Miller came into free agency expecting to eventually return to the Rams. But was ultimately enticed by the prevailing notion that he could win his third title in Buffalo.
“I saw what makes Aaron Donald Aaron Donald, and it was hard to walk away from that,” Miller said. “The only way you can walk away from that is to walk into something special. And what they’re doing here is extremely special.”
Von Miller is headed to Buffalo for a whole lot of bills.
The star pass rusher signed a whopping six-year contract, the Bills announced Wednesday. One of the biggest free agency prizes off the market for a deal worth $120 million, including $52 million guaranteed, per Spotrac.
Miller, 32, won the second Super Bowl of his career this past season after joining the Rams in a mid-season trade with the Broncos.
Von Miller will be wreaking having in the AFC East for the next six seasons.AP Photo
He will have some company, too.
Tight end O.J. Howard inked a one-year contract with the Bills for $3.5 million, with up to $1.5 million in extras.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Von Miller, two-time Super Bowl winner after Rams 23, Bengals 20, doesn’t know how Aaron Donald can contemplate retirement now.
“He’s done everything you could possibly do,” Miller said, “but this feeling right here, there’s nothing like it. It’s addictive. Coming to the Super Bowl is one thing, but winning it is different. This feeling is great, it just makes you want it more and more and more. But he’s definitely capping off a great career if he chooses to do that. But this is an addictive, feeling, man, and I just can’t see him walking away from this.”
Miller’s two sacks of Joe Burrow in the second half tied him for career sacks in the Super Bowl with Charles Haley (4.5). Miller had 2.5 as Super Bowl 50 MVP against the Panthers. Haley played in five Super Bowls.
“That’s what I do better than anything else in the world, I’m a great dad, I’m a great brother, I’m a great son, a great teammate,” he said, “but rushing the passer in those moments, that’s what I do better than anything else in the world, man, and it feels good to come out on top.”
Von Miller celebrates with the Lombardi Trophy. AFP via Getty ImagesVon Miller (right) holds the Lombardi Trophy with Aaron Donald (left). REUTERS
He came over in November and helped recruit his buddy Odell Beckham Jr. Beckham suffered a disabling knee injury in the second quarter after catching a 17-yard TD pass from Matthew Stafford in the first quarter.
“It’s an emotional moment for him,” Miller said. “He was on his way to have a Super Bowl MVP type of performance, man. But he got a ring, man. That’s what we all came here for, man. I love the guy to death, man, that’s my boy forever. We’re forever etched in stone as Super Bowl champs.”
Odell Beckham Jr. put forth one of his best games in a Rams uniform during the team’s 20-17 win over the 49ers in the NFC championship game Sunday.
Beckham caught nine passes for 113 yards as a key playmaker for Matthew Stafford and a strong complement to No. 1 receiver Cooper Kupp. The performance earned him effusive praise from his head coach, Sean McVay.
“Odell was outstanding today,” McVay said during his postgame news conference. “To be able to go over 100 [yards], he had some key and critical catches to be able to extend drives. . . . He’s a special player. He’s so smart. He’s so talented, so gifted and he’s brought such a charisma and a presence and really a swag to our team.”
DeCOURCY: OBJ big part of Rams’ all-in move to win Super Bowl
Beckham almost didn’t add that swag to the Rams. He wasn’t sure he was going to join Los Angeles after his Nov. 8 release from the Browns. Eventually, Beckham bought into the idea, but as he detailed after LA’s win, it took some convincing from now-teammates Von Miller and Jalen Ramsey.
“I remember everything was going down and I was getting that phone call from Von and Jalen every day,” Beckham told reporters. “And I’m like, ‘I don’t know, man. I don’t know.’”
MORE: Beckham shares emotional moment with Deebo Samuel
But as Beckham thought about it, he realized that he wanted to play in Los Angeles. Why? Because it meant that he could finally get a chance to team up with Miller, who had been traded to the Rams at the deadline on Nov. 2.
“It just was on my heart and I feel like this was the right place,” Beckham said. “Just truly an amazing moment. Here with Von, this is a brother. We talked about this. Didn’t ever think that it would really be possible, and here we are.”
MORE: Matthew Stafford thanks wife, Kelly, for support after win
The Rams’ victory Sunday cemented Beckham’s belief that he made the right choice.
“Everything about this place is right and it’s done right,” he said while praising McVay and Stafford. “It’s just been an incredible opportunity that I feel like [I’m] just trying to make the most of, and here we are playing in the Super Bowl, one game away from our dreams.”
MORE: OBJ told Miller not to come to Cleveland in offseason
Odell Beckham Jr.’s tipping point with the Browns might have come midseason, but he was clearly against advocating for Cleveland as a destination in the offseason.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Greg Bishop, Beckham told then-Broncos linebacker Von Miller during the offseason not to come to Cleveland despite a shared desire by the pair to play together.
“Don’t come to Cleveland,” Beckham said, according to Miller.
NFL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE: Updated bracket and TV channels for AFC, NFC
Beckham and Miller had been rehabbing different injuries sustained during the previous season. Miller had dislocated his patella tendon, and Beckham had torn his ACL. They were in Colorado Springs rehabbing together when Beckham advised the linebacker not to pursue the option to play in Cleveland, per Bishop.
Miller, who spent his first nine seasons in the NFL with the Broncos, was traded to the Rams on Nov. 1 for a pair of draft picks. After recording 4.5 sacks and 19 combined tackles in his seven games with the Broncos, Miller has recorded seven sacks and 41 combined tackles in 10 games with the Rams.
MORE: Odell Beckham Jr. controversy timeline
It wasn’t long before Beckham was out of Cleveland. Beckham missed a practice with the team after his father, Odell Beckham Sr., released a video on Instagram criticizing Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield for his inability to get the ball out to the former Giants star.
Beckham was released on Nov. 5 by the Browns, and the Rams announced they had signed him on Nov. 11. According to Bishop, Miller helped convince the Rams to sign Beckham after he cleared waivers.
“It’s time, man,” Miller remembered Beckham saying to him after the signing. “Time to put it all together.”
MORE: What happened with Odell Beckham Jr. and the Browns?
Much like Miller, Beckham has enjoyed a resurgence in Los Angeles. Beckham totaled 17 catches for 232 receiving yards with no touchdowns in the first six games of the season with the Browns. He has caught 37 passes for 428 yards with six touchdowns in 10 games with the Rams.
Miller and Beckham will look to keep Los Angeles’ season alive on Sunday, when the Rams face the 49ers in the NFC championship game.
Tattoo artist Kat Von D has listed her Victorian LA mansion — which also happens to be the set of the 2003 flick “Cheaper By the Dozen” — for a cool $15 million.
While the over 12,000-square-foot property looked warm and familial in the movie adaptation, listing photos show that Von D, 39, has transformed the space into a chic horror movie set with a personal touch, TMZ first reported.
The lush landscaping significantly mutes any real nightmare vibes, but the blood-red outdoor swimming pool and brick work — not to mention statues and a multitude of peaked roofs — give even the marketing photos Draculean energy.
Interested buyers will get a lot more to work with than a vampire aesthetic, though: The three-story main home has 11 beds, 8½ baths and is located in Los Angeles proper. It was built in 1896, giving it plenty of years to accumulate actual ghosts in addition to spooky decor.
There is a separate carriage house on the property.realtor.comThe home features a blood-red pool. realtor.comMany of the original details have been retained.realtor.comThe three-story main home has 11 beds, 8½ baths and is located in Los Angeles proper.realtor.com
A separate carriage house on the property also features two bedrooms and a bathroom over a garage. In total, the gated home includes seven fireplaces.
“The traditional floor plan offers a grand salon that seamlessly flows to the library/den and formal living room/sitting room,” the listing noted, adding that the dining room is lined with paneling and leaded stained-glass windows.
The gardens and pool area can be accessed through numerous exits, as well as a secret door hidden inside a bar.
One of the home’s 13 total bedrooms.realtor.comA modern HVAC system has been installed around the original details.realtor.comThe color red is a popular feature in the home.realtor.com
On the top floor, there is another living space that doubles as a theater, its stage featuring the original footlights, with a bar and kitchenette and a “dramatic turret side room.”
The modern multi-zone HVAC system was “painstakingly installed” so as not to disturb the original wood and plasterwork.
The dining room is lined with paneling and leaded stained-glass windows. realtor.comThe property is gated.realtor.comAnother view of the scarlet pool and surrounding area.realtor.comOne of the mansion’s 8½ baths.realtor.com
Reporter Door has been given exclusive access to the international trailer for “Into Dust,” an upcoming dramatic short from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Orlando von Einsiedel (“Virunga,” “The White Helmets”) produced by Grain Media, Rideback and Fuse Entertainment. The short will launch this Friday on streaming platform WaterBear and be available to watch on Apple TV and Roku devices.
“Into Dust” is the true story of Perween Rahman, an activist who was murdered after she stood up to Karachi’s water mafia in the South of Pakistan. Set against the growing global water crisis and its impact on food, health, energy, governance and political stability around the world, the film not only depicts Rahman’s inspiring work, but the fight by those close to her to continue that work after her death, and to battle the forces who cut her life short.
In the trailer, we’re introduced to Rahman, played by Indu Sharma, and the tensions she faced off against daily. Dripping taps, armed guards and a dust-covered city give an idea of the scale of her opposition. We also see that, despite the best efforts of evil men, Rahman’s fight did not die with her.
“This is a story that really spoke to me on multiple levels; the bravery of Perween Rahman and her sister Aquila Ismail; a story about the loss of a sibling, something I have experienced in my own life; and the terrifying specter of a world threatened by water scarcity,” says von Einsiedel. “We wanted to pay tribute to Perween Rahman’s extraordinary life and work, whilst also making a film that sparked a conversation about water usage and consumption. We stepped away from a documentary format to tell a docudrama narrative that we hope people can emotionally connect to.”
SPORTS
Sky has released a study which reveals that Game Zero, the broadcaster’s initiative executed with London soccer club Tottenham Hotspur and independent carbon specialists RSK and Natural Capital Partners, was a success, managing to hit the net zero carbon emissions goal for the Sept. 19 Tottenham-Chelsea game. To get there, players came to the stadium on biodiesel fueled busses; participating fans chose to walk, use public transport or arrive in hybrid and electric cars; the stadium was powered by 100% renewable energy on gameday; all food served inside the stadium was locally and sustainably sourced with 94% more vegetarian and plant-based meals sold; and the Sky Sports production crew reduced its emissions by 70%. The news wasn’t all good for the home fans however, as their team fell 3-0 to the current league leaders and local rivals.
Harry Kane Tottenham Hotspur Credit: Sky Sports
CO-PRODUCTION
Endeavor Content has boarded “Headhunters,” a dark corporate thriller series based on Jo Nesbø’s novel of the same name and inspired by the BAFTA-nominated Scandinavian film adaptation. “Headhunters” is produced Yellowbird Norway, and co-produced by Sweden’s C More and TV2 in Norway. The series stars Axel Bøyum
(“Betrayed”) and Martin Wallström (“Mr. Robot”). Geir Henning Hopeland serves as director as well as co-writing the screenplay with Rolf-Magne G. Andersen. The series is set in Norway with filming currently underway. Endeavor Content will handle global sales outside the Nordics. “Headhunters” follows Roger Brown (Bøyum), a headhunter lying and manipulating his way to success both in his career and in his love life. But one lie leads to another, and soon he is so entangled in his own stories that it becomes a danger to both himself and the people around him. The series is currently in production and will premiere in 2022.
DEVELOPMENT
High End Productions, launched earlier this year by Dr. Herbert Kloiber in partnership with Constantin Film, is developing a historical drama series about the life of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico and his wife, Charlotte of Belgium. The company is teaming with “Spy City” novelist and screenwriter William Boyd on the four-part limited series. Shooting is planned for late summer 2022, and will take place in original locations in Austria, Northern Italy, France and Mexico. The ambitious production boasts an estimated budget of $20million.
FESTIVAL
The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), Japan’s biggest film event, has announced its dates for its 35th edition, less than three weeks after its 34th edition ended. TIFF will unspool for 10 days from Oct. 24 to Nov. 2, 2022, while its concurrent film and TV market, TIFFCOM, will be held for three days from Oct. 24 to 26. This year the festival moved from Tokyo’s Roppongi sub-center to new venues in the Hibiya-Yurakucho-Ginza area, a traditional hub of entertainment businesses in the nation’s capital. This is was part of a extensive shakeup that brought in a new programming director, Ichiyama Shozo, while strengthening ties with the festival he used to head, Tokyo Filmex. The newly discovered Omicron variant, however, could spoil TIFF’s plans for a return to normality, such as extending invitations to foreign filmmakers, who were conspicuous by their absence at TIFF this year. – Mark Schilling
STREAMING
BBC Studios has secured an initial content package deal with Nigerian streamer ARISEPlay in the form of a 12-month agreement which will bring more than 200 hours of British content to the streaming platform. It’s BBC Studios’ largest partnership in the African country, and includes standout, award-winning titles such as “Luther,” “Small Axe” and “Famalam.” BBC Studios catalog launches on the player today and will be available to ARISEPlay subscribers for at least one year.
Everett Collection
DATABASE
Screen Manchester has launched a new, comprehensive crew and facilities database meant to future-proof employment opportunities for the region’s HODs and essential film and TV crew. A free service, the database will be available to producers, broadcasters and streamers looking to hire Manchester-based freelance crew based on their experience and to source facilities across the region. The database is headed by Elli Metcalfe, a former Granada and ITV/BBC freelance producer who joined Screen Manchester from SharpFutures.
AWARDS
Actor, musician and author Asim Chaudhry will the upcoming 24th British Independent Film Awards on Sunday, Dec. 5. After last year’s event was postponed and then livestreamed in February 2021, the ceremony will return to Old Billingsgate for an in-person gala celebrating the best in British and international independent film. Chaudhry will be joined by several major cinema figures who will help distribute prizes on the evening, with TV host Yinka Bokinni returning to host this year’s red carpet alongside radio presenter Sian Eleri.
What happens when a competitive surfer-turned-small time gangster, a convicted drug dealer and a world martial arts champion launch a fashion line?
It becomes the biggest brand in the world.
Britney Spears donning a Von Dutch trucker hat.RHEA/BACKGRID
No label captured early 2000s style quite like Von Dutch — a casual line of denim, T-shirts, jackets and trucker hats favored by the era’s brightest stars, such as Paris Hilton, Dennis Rodman, Britney Spears and Jay-Z. At a moment when the pinnacle of style was a midriff-baring tank top paired with scandalously low-slung jeans, the scrawled Von Dutch logo was ubiquitous, showing up everywhere from rowdy college campuses to the red carpet.
But as a new docuseries shows, overexposure and a feud over the future of the brand would ultimately kneecap Von Dutch’s growth and condemn the brand to early 2000s infamy.
Dennis Rodman, Jay-Z and Paris Hilton all wearing Von Dutch trucker hats.Jim Smeal/BEI/Shutterstock; Picture Perfect/Shutterstock; WireImage
“At its most aspirational, it was Levi’s,” Andrew Renzi, director of Hulu’s “The Curse of Von Dutch,” out Thursday, told The Post. He said Von Dutch’s original ethos was all about “James Dean [and] hot rod culture,” with the originators setting out to create “a real, true American heritage brand, something that really represented Americana.”
To do this, California-based duo Michael Cassel (a self-described “outlaw” who served 4 years in San Quentin after a cocaine bust) and Bobby Vaughn (a surfer and model, who narrowly evaded arrest after his involvement in a 1993 shooting) looked to the legacy of the deceased artist and mechanic Kenny Howard, a k a “Von Dutch.” Howard pioneered the contemporary art of pinstriping — customizing cars and motorcycles with thin, decorative lines — and created a number of memorable drawings, including a flying eyeball with wings that Cassel and Vaughn featured in their nascent clothing line’s iconography.
Bobby Vaughn (left) and Mike Cassel founded the clothing line together, inspired by the art of Kenny Howard, a k a Von Dutch.Hulu
Howard’s daughters approved the license, and by the late 1990s, Von Dutch had a small but loyal following among rebels and outcasts. “Kids go through a stage where they like punk rock, they like rebellious things, and ‘f–k that’ anarchy, right? He was that in his art, he was that in his actions, he was completely against the grain,” Cassel says of Howard’s appeal.
Unfortunately, Cassel’s criminal record made it almost impossible for the line to grow, because no one would lend him money. By the year 2000, he was on the hunt for a private investor.
Tonny Sorensen took 51% control of Von Dutch with his initial investment.HULU
He found one in Tonny Sorensen, a 6-foot-6 Danish former Olympian and Taekwondo champion who had originally come to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an action star. At first, Sorensen — who took 51% control of the brand with a million-dollar investment — and Cassel shared a similar vision for Von Dutch (“hot rods and rolled up T-shirts and really hard denim,” said Renzi). But as time passed and Sorensen found himself losing money, he got desperate. He brought in a French designer named Christian Audigier
to boost sales.
Gwen Stefani wearing Von Dutch in 2003.Getty Images
Audigier — who would eventually launch a line of notorious tattoo-inspired T-shirts called Ed Hardy — had an entirely different vision for Von Dutch. “It was so much more flamboyant,” Renzi said. “It was louder, because Christian’s idea of America was Michael Jackson. Christian was obsessed with Michael Jackson, obsessed with the really loud flair of America.”
Soon, Audigier’s flashy designs — from sequin baseball caps to rhinestone tees to patent-leather bowling bags — took off.
Tommy Lee wore Von Dutch on his 2000 episode of “MTV Cribs” (a prime placement that Vaughn arranged, adding in the film that Sorensen rewarded him by tricking him into signing over his rights to the company). Audigier hired Tracey Mills, brother of NBA star Chris Mills, to get pieces on his celebrity friends, such as Brandy and Usher.
Von Dutch had a policy of never charging celebrities for anything they picked out at the stores.
Once, Whitney Houston and her entourage came in and collected one of every single item. In the series, Sorenson says a sales clerk came to check with him that it wasn’t too much.
Hillary Duff rocking Von Dutch’s coated jeans.Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
As he recalls it, “I said to them, ‘Have you ever heard her voice? Have you ever heard her sing? Do you remember ‘The Bodyguard?’ Like, give her 30 bags, because she’s the best singer I’ve ever heard in my life and I still get goosebumps.’”
Paris Hilton chatting with Jeremy Scott clad in Von Dutch and Juicy Couture — accessorized with a flip phone.Moghadam/BEI/Shutterstock
But nobody championed the brand like Paris Hilton, who at the time was promoting her tongue-in-cheek 2003 reality show “The Simple Life” with her best friend Nicole Richie.
“It was free, it was playful, it was cute, it was iconic,” Hilton said of Von Dutch in the series. Audigier, she says, gave her and Richie “whatever we wanted … That was like, our uniform for the show.”
By 2003, Von Dutch was raking in millions of dollars each month, with the doc suggesting it was the most counterfeited logo after Louis Vuitton. Celebrities were “the ‘X’ factor for them,” Renzi said. “They were getting influencers before that was a thing … The difference then is that magazines would come out once a week or once a month, and so it really did create a craziness around this brand, because every month, Us Weekly or whatever would come out and everyone would be in a Von Dutch hat in the magazine.”
Halle Berry in a Von Dutch jersey tee.Picture Perfect/Shutterstock
For Vaughn and Cassel, the success was not so sweet.
Is Kylie Jenner bringing back Von Dutch?FameFlynet.Biz/Splash News
In 2002, Cassel lost the struggle for creative control and he was forced out, unable to raise the money to buy out Sorensen. He watched, helpless and broke, as the brand he loved faded away.
“They took this thing that I created, my baby, and they prostituted it,” Cassel says at the end of Episode 2.
Ultimately, even Sorensen came to question Audigier’s judgment as he churned out more and more Von Dutch products — with items for kids and pets appearing in stores — to the point that by 2004, the once-hot label came to be known, disparagingly, as “Von Douche.”
“When you see dogs wearing Von Dutch, it’s just not cool anymore,” said Renzi.
Sorensen eventually sold his stake, and Audigier jumped ship in 2007. (He died in 2015.) “They kind of exhausted themselves,” Renzi said. “They made a bunch of money and it was a successful company, but it was at the expense of longevity.”
The Rams have been aggressive in attempting to improve their team under general manager Les Snead. In fact, they’re mortgaging a bit of their future to do that.
Los Angeles is entering its fifth consecutive year without a first-round pick. The team has traded their first-round pick for a veteran player in every draft since 2018, and they aren’t scheduled to have another first-round pick until 2024 — unless they trade up to get a pick.
That seems highly unlikely given the Rams’ lacking draft assets.
RIVERA: Recapping the Matthew Stafford/Jared Goff trade
In wake of the Von Miller trade, the Rams are operating with virtually no draft capital. They currently have no picks in the first four rounds of the 2022 NFL Draft. The team will need to land a lot of compensatory picks to restock its bare cupboard.
Here’s a look at what the Rams currently have in terms of 2022 draft capital and what they are projected to earn via compensatory picks.
VON MILLER TRADE: Grading Rams and Broncos in swap of DE
Rams draft picks 2022
The Rams currently have just three draft picks in 2022 after the wheeling and dealing that they have done over the past year-plus.
Los Angeles sacrificed its 2022 first-round draft pick as a part of the Matthew Stafford trade. They also sacrificed their own second- and third-round picks in the trade to acquire Von Miller.
The trading wasn’t limited to picks on the first two days of the draft. The Rams also sent a fourth-round pick to the Texans as part of the Brandin Cooks deal while sending a sixth-round pick to the Patriots for Sony Michel.
Here’s a look at the picks the team officially owns in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Fifth-round pick (own)
Seventh-round pick (own)
Seventh-round pick (via Miami in Aqib Talib trade)
It may look like the Rams won’t pick until the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, but compensatory picks will certainly change that.
IYER: Buccaneers upset proves there’s no Super Bowl favorite in 2021
Rams potential compensatory picks
The NFL awards compensatory picks to its clubs depending on the free-agent losses that they deal with in the previous offseason. The bigger the contract signed, the higher the pick. So, the Rams’ 2021 free-agent losses will result in the gain of 2022 NFL Draft picks.
So too will the hiring of Brad Holmes to be the Lions’ general manager. The NFL has added a program that awards teams that have a minority head coach or general manager hired from their team with a third-round compensatory pick. That one is set in stone, so technically speaking, the Rams have four sure-fire draft picks, the earliest of which will come at the end of the third round.
The other compensatory picks have yet to be awarded, but the Rams can receive a maximum of four, not including the pick awarded for the Holmes hiring. According to NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein, the Rams are projected to get five total compensatory picks because of their losses.
Here’s a look at Zierlein’s projections:
Third-round pick (via Brad Holmes hiring)
Fourth-round pick (via Browns signing John Johnson)
Save for Holmes, these picks aren’t guaranteed to land in these spots, but the point is that the Rams seem poised to benefit heavily from compensatory picks. That should replenish their draft stash and will give them a chance to have eight or so picks in the 2022 NFL Draft.
