It’s incredible how division rivals can undermine a team during the off-season. The Cardinals were able to sign Jarvis Jones last month, the 49ers were able to snag Pierre Garcon, and now the Seahawks have essentially sunk the Rams ability to trade Trumaine Johnson this year. The Ringer’s Michael Lombardi floated the possibility of a Richard Sherman trade last month and while it appeared to be a far-fetched proposition, the Seahawks have openly declared that Sherman is definitely available. On its face it might seem like a bizarre move for Seattle to want to trade Sherman but in reality they might be cashing in at just the right time. Yes, Sherman has yet to miss a game and has logged 30 interceptions, one Super Bowl victory, and is only 29 but Seattle is looking to cut costs. They’ve dedicated a lot of resources to their secondary due to the fact that the cover 3 Pete Carroll likes to run depends heavily on it but that investment has come at cost to their offense which floundered last year. Wilson took a lot of hits and at his size that will become a problem if not addressed. They lack any real receiving threats and their run game has gone down hill since Marshawn Lynch retired. Carroll believes Sherman is a product of the system and thus expendable which is a very Belichickian thing to do but he might be right. For the Rams, this makes things even tougher than they were before.
Trumaine Johnson didn’t provide much value as it was. He only had one interception last year and comes at a very unfriendly $16 million cap hit. Sherman on the other hand, comes in at a $13.2 million cap hit and is twice the player Johnson is. It doesn’t help that the draft is rich with prospects in the secondary which already made Johnson’s trade value lower than it normally would be. Teams aren’t as desperate to add a veteran in the secondary because they could draft someone for a lot less money. Sherman is worth trading and possibly extending should his volatility not become the issue its becoming in Seattle. Johnson doesn’t have the track record of success so a team willing to sink $16 million in him doesn’t seem as attractive. Les Snead was criticized for making a poison pill decision in tagging Johnson for a second year. He didn’t want to extend him because it wasn’t clear he was the right fit for Wade’s new 3-4 defense and he couldn’t exactly let him walk away for nothing because they have nothing beyond him at corner. It was a tough spot to be in especially since they don’t have the draft flexibility to improve both their offense and their secondary. A safety is of greater need in the draft considering T.J. McDonald wasn’t coming back so they needed Johnson more than other teams would.
All is not lost however, the team does have until July 15th to decide whether to bite the bullet and extend Johnson to a long term (and cheaper) deal or let the year play out. Worst comes to worst the Rams let him test free agency next year and either some team scoops him up or he finds that the Rams are the only team willing to pay him what he feels he’s worth. Best case scenario, they sign him to a relatively team friendly deal and diminish his cap hit giving them flexibility so they can pick up a veteran that gets cut towards the end of training camp or allow the money to roll over for next year’s free agent class. Now that Sherman is on the market, the prospect of a Trumaine Johnson trade is all but dead, and while the possibility of getting more picks was nice this isn’t the end of the world. Maybe Johnson fits into the new defense and he improves or maybe they cut their losses next year and simply dedicate next year to building their secondary. Even better, if Seattle finds someone willing to trade for Sherman that means Jared Goff won’t have to see him twice a year.
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