Free agency is less than a month away and the Rams have some tough choices to make. Luckily none of them involve picking up Aaron Donald’s fifth year option because that is the biggest no brainer of the season. Beyond that, they have a slew of decisions to make that aren’t so easy. Chief among them is whether or not to resign Trumaine Johnson. On the surface, the answer might seem like an emphatic yes but the consequences are just as devastating if they chose not to.
Last season, the Rams allowed Janoris Jenkins to walk because his price tag would’ve been massive and while he’s turned into a great corner with the Giants, the risk was too high because under Fisher he had a propensity towards getting dumb penalties at the worst possible time. His new deal went for five years at 62.5 million, 39.5 of which come within the first three years. This impacts what Johnson will be worth because Johnson knows he can fetch that type of deal on the open market and he and his representation also know he’s much more valuable to the Rams given he’s their only proven asset at corner.
The Rams franchised him last year while they decided what to do about him and safety T.J. MacDonald, who is also a free agent this season. If they chose to franchise him a second year in a row that would mean he gets 16.5 million for this season which would make him second to Josh Norman in terms of highest paid corners in the league.
That’s a bitter pill to swallow as is the cost of extending him but they really have no leverage. If they let him walk, Wade Phillips’ defense would be greatly impacted becuase he would be without a shut down corner and that would cause the front seven to be less effective. Sure, E.J. Gaines and Lamarcus Joyner are developing corners and could prove valuable down the road, neither option is at a place where they could step in for Trumaine Johnson and be successful.
A long term contract will prove expensive but its really the only play they have at this juncture. They’ll most likely let McDonald walk because his value is slightly less than Johnsons’s but that’s the tough position Les Snead has found himself in.
The only reason why this isn’t slam dunk is that the team has 32 million in cap space and while that’s not a bad place to be in, they also have alot of areas where that money could go and that’s just for their in house free agency concerns. They also need to think about maybe signing a marquee receiver or picking up a veteran on the offensive line. Signing Johnson would hamstring those efforts but then again they can’t afford not to resign him.
It was floated that Cousins would be a great target for the Rams given his relationship with the current staff but they can’t afford him, besides Washington will definitely resign him anyway. Spending money on Cousins would be the equivalent of spending tax refund money on a trip to Hawaii instead of paying off a title loan. This is all Snead’s fault because had he not decided to give Tavon Austin a ridiculous extension and burn resournces on Goff, perhaps they can afford luxury items, unfortunately they don’t have that flexibility.
The Rams will be in a position to get compensatory picks if they let McDonald and a few other vets walk so they’ll have some additional flexibility but not much. Trumiane Johnson is a player they need to resign even if the cost proves more than market value otherwise their only hope is that they can get what’s left of Revis Island before he permanetely sinks into the ocean.
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