Although still about a month out from the NFL Draft, the LA Rams have already shuffled the deck and begun laying the foundation for a fresh start.
As expected, Les Snead chose to put the franchise tag on Trumaine Johnson rather than keep the 1,000-yard receiver Kenny Britt.
On the surface, the decision to ante up for Johnson after his lackluster season rather than keep your best wide receiver seems like the wrong one, but the situation isn’t so black and white.
To pour salt in the wound, Brian Quick signed with the Redskins.
The first thing to keep in mind is that Tavon Austin should have a better season, especially if Sean McVay can put his stamp on the offense and the O-Line can buy a few more seconds Jared Goff.
In addition to Austin hopefully living up to his potential, Snead also signed Robert Woods from Buffalo and the upcoming draft is loaded with talented wide receivers.
Although Britt will be missed, adding Woods and drafting a wide receiver like Juju Smith-Schuster from USC or Isaiah Ford from Virginia Tech should be give Goff enough targets.
It’s also worth noting that the Rams said goodbye to Lance Kendricks, and could replacing him with a red-zone threat like Eric Saubert out of Drake.
Other than the controversial franchise tag, the Rams added the former Cincinnati Bengal Andrew Whitworth after releasing Tim Barnes, which should bring some leadership to the woeful offensive line.
Among other moves, the Rams parted ways with DE Eugene Sims, traded DE William Hayes to the Dolphins for a sixth-round pick, signed DT Tyrunn Walker from Detroit and for some reason signed QB Aaron Murray.
What does all of this mean? Not much, other than Johnson getting the franchise tag, which was the right move.
Even if Snead resigned Britt, the Rams still don’t have an offensive line to protect our quarterback who is still developing.
In other words, the offense would still have been a work in progress and the defense would have taken an unnecessary blow. Plus, getting a couple of athletic wide receivers in the draft won’t be difficult.
Speaking of the draft, the upcoming one will be a big turning point for the Rams.
Not only do they need wide receivers, tight ends and offensive linemen, but they also need depth at nearly every position on defense.
This means Snead will have to keep shopping around for more picks, which could come our way if Johnson is in fact on the block.
This is only the beginning of what’s shaping out to be a successful off season.
I predicted the Rams to make the playoffs next season before free agency began, laying out an optimistic situation in which they get all the pieces necessary and everybody stays healthy.
Like I said, optimistic and perhaps delusional, but Snead has a good opportunity to get a group of guys ready to give the Seahawks a run for their money.
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