Marcus Peters on 2018 trade to Rams: 'I didn't really want to go'

One of the first big trades of the Sean McVay era was a deal to acquire Marcus Peters from the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018. Peters nearly won a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams that year, taking his All-Pro talents from Kansas City to L.A. and having a major impact on defense.

Peters seemed happy in Los Angeles during his brief tenure with the Rams, but if it were up to him, he wouldn’t have been traded by the Chiefs in the first place. In a recent interview, Peters opened up about that trade, saying he “didn’t really want to go” because he loved playing in Kansas City.

“If it’s my choice, to be honest, I didn’t really want to go,” he said. “I didn’t want to go nowhere. I didn’t ask for no trade. I didn’t do nothing. I was in L.A., and I got a call from my agent, he was like, ‘Hey, you might be getting traded.’”

Peters admits he was mad about being traded, not because he didn’t want to play for the Rams, but because he wanted to stay with the Chiefs – the team that drafted him as a 22-year-old in the first round.

“I was low-key pissed off,” he said. “I didn’t want to go nowhere, just to be honest. Leave it at that. I love playing ball in K.C and I loved coming into Arrowhead Stadium and being able to perform. That’s why you got my best out there because it was just so free and so natural.”

In a season and a half with the Rams, Peters had five interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. He was traded to the Ravens mid-season in 2019 and went on to be named a Pro Bowler, as well as a first-team All-Pro, but his play fell off after that.

Peters last played in 2023 as a member of the Raiders and is now the head football coach at McClymonds High School, succeeding his father in that role. During his prime, Peters was one of the best defensive playmakers in football – which is why the Rams were comfortable trading a fourth- and second-round pick to the Chiefs for Peters and a sixth.

It wasn’t a long-term solution at cornerback but his play helped the Rams reach the Super Bowl that season.

This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Marcus Peters 'didn't really want' trade to Rams in 2018