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March 15, 2018 at 1:00 am #84053
znModeratorLinebacker Ogletree was a casualty of Rams’ retooled defense
Joe Curley
The Los Angeles Rams had just agreed to ship their defensive captain off to New York.
Now it was time to break the news to Alec Ogletree.
That’s when general manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay discovered the linebacker was out on the field at the Rams facility at Cal Lutheran, running sprints in the middle of the offseason.
“It’s one thing when you’re the GM and you’re doing all of this on paper,” Snead said Wednesday. “In that moment, you’re like, ‘We’ve got to go tell Alec. We don’t want him to read about this.’ ”
DYNAMIC DUO AT CB: New Rams cornerbacks hope to create L.A. version of no fly zone
Snead and McVay walked out to the practice field to break the news, face to face.
Ogletree, in Snead’s words, had been “sacrificed” for salary cap space, his trade to the Giants enabled the Rams to put together the potentially elite cornerback duo of Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib.
The Rams were all smiles Wednesday as they officially unveiled both new acquisitions in Thousand Oaks, as the Peters trade with Kansas City and the Talib deal with Denver officially were completed on the first day of the NFL’s new year.
“It’s rare to be able to acquire two players of this caliber,” McVay said.
In order to open up the space needed to fit Talib and his $11 million contract onto the roster, the Rams were forced to move on from their defensive captain less than five months after they handed Ogletree a four-year, $42 million contract extension.
It came down to the “hard decision,” Snead said, of valuing one position over another in defensive coordinator Wade Phillips’ scheme.
“Alec was one of our obviously better players. But in Wade’s scheme … the cornerback position is (valued) way more than the linebacker position.”
One year after McVay took the offense from worst to first in the NFL, the Rams jumped at an opportunity to do something special on the defensive side of the ball.
Snead was lauded for the series of moves that put together the type of formidable secondary that may be needed against the NFC West battles to come with San Francisco and quarterback Jimmy Garappolo.
The Rams used the franchise tag to retain safety Lamarcus Joyner. They signed free agent Sam Shields, a former Super Bowl-winning cornerback with Green Bay who sat out last season because of concussions. They also tendered St. Bonaventure High graduate Troy Hill a new contract and handed a raise to slot cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman.
“They are adding to our team,” Robey-Coleman said on Wednesday. “They are not subtracting. … That’s what we need for our defense.”
But without the opportunity to pair Peters with Talib, Ogletree, who wore the “green dot” coach-to-communications device and called the defensive signals, would still be a key leader on the field and in the locker room.
“If you can’t have those two players,” Snead said, “we’re jacked to have Alec around.
“You had to move a very good player on your team, a leader and all of that.”
In building cap space, the Rams also moved veteran outside linebacker Robert Quinn and his $11.4 million cap hit to Miami in another deal.
McVay made sure to make that phone call, as well.
“With both of those guys, they got that information from me,” McVay said. “The only thing you can be is clear, open and honest about exactly what’s going on. At the end of the day, these are grown men you’re dealing with and I think they respect it.”
Snead and McVay arrived on the practice field as Ogletree jogged back from running a 100-yard sprint.
“You realize how quickly some of these things happen,” McVay said.
As he waited to begin the conversation, Snead thought about the player he had drafted in the first round out of Georgia in 2013.
“There’s the moment when, even though this is a business, you feel that whole family side,” Snead said. “You were part of drafting Alec. You know his mom. You know his dad. You know his wife. You saw him have his first kid.
“This is a hard conversation because his life just changed.”
A day later, Rams fans would celebrate as the news was reported that they had paired Talib with Peters. Snead would be lauded for his series of trades.
But those moves did not come without cost.
“That’s a tough day,” Snead said.
March 15, 2018 at 1:02 am #84054znModeratorMarcus Peters and Aqib Talib are ready for fun times with the Rams
Gary Klein
http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-free-agency-20180314-story.html
Muted applause and laughter came from the back of the room.
It was produced by perhaps the happiest person attending a news conference Wednesday introducing new Rams cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib.Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips clapped his hands and smiled broadly before quietly exiting out a door after Peters and Talib proclaimed their excitement about joining a franchise that won the NFC West in 2017 and appeared to have loads of fun doing it under coach Sean McVay.
Peters and Talib were acquired in trades that became official Wednesday, the start of the NFL’s new league year.The two players, who have seven Pro Bowl selections between them, sat side by side at a table at the Rams’ Thousand Oaks training facility, flanked by McVay and general manager Les Snead, who brokered their acquisitions from the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos, respectively.
McVay described them as “special” and “cerebral” players.
“We feel like we got two No. 1 corners,” McVay said after the news conference.
Peters and Talib are the latest marquee members of the Rams’ remade defense that features defensive tackle Aaron Donald, the NFL’s defensive player of the year, and safety Lamarcus Joyner, who received the franchise tag last week.
Talib, 32, and Peters, 25, said they would complement each other on the field.
“We both have a great knack for the game,” said Talib, who has 34 interceptions in 10 seasons, adding, “We do some stuff the same, we do some stuff different.“So he’ll learn some stuff from me. I’ll learn some stuff from him.”
Said Peters, who has 19 interceptions in three seasons: “He’s got a lot more years on me. I can just learn from him, so it’s going to be huge.”
Peters said it was clear from watching the Rams in 2017 “just how much fun they was having together. It felt like a real team atmosphere.”
Talib echoed that sentiment.
The chance to reunite with Phillips, for whom he played and won a Super Bowl with in Denver, and the opportunity to play for McVay were among reasons Talib nixed a trade to the San Francisco 49ers but agreed to be dealt to the Rams.
“You watch half the teams in the league, they just go through the motions and kind of collect the check,” Talib said. “But there’s another half of them teams, the playoff teams, they got a coach who they respect.
“And whatever [McVay’s] preaching, he’s got guys believing that they can really go do it. … I’m definitely glad I’m part of that.”
So is Joyner.
The Rams tagged the four-year veteran at $11.2 million for one season and let receiver Sammy Watkins hit free agency. Watkins signed a three-year, $48-million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Joyner said he was “fine” with being tagged, that it would not hurt his career and that his goal was still to get a long-term contract done with the Rams.
“We’re just going through the process,” he said during a teleconference. “We’re trying to do what’s best for myself, and my family and what’s best for the Rams.”
Adding Peters and Talib, he said, would help the defense that ranked fifth in the NFL in takeaways.
“They can bring a lot of great things to the back end and help us create a lot more turnovers,” Joyner said.
Cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman, who signed a three-year contract Wednesday, also is looking forward to playing with Talib and Peters.
“Aqib, I can’t wait to soak up his knowledge of the game, of being a veteran,” Robey-Coleman said during a teleconference. “Marcus, I know he’s a young guy but I know we are both ball hawks.”
Both Talib and Peters come to the Rams with histories of incidents.
Peters, who was kicked off the team at the University of Washington, was suspended for a game last season after throwing a penalty flag.
He said he has learned from his mistakes and that his behavior in the past “comes with being a competitor.”
Talib was suspended twice during his four seasons with the Broncos for incidents with opposing players. He also was involved in an incident in which he was shot in the leg.
Snead and McVay said the Rams vetted Peters and Talib and heard nothing but good things from former teammates.
“You continually heard the respect their teammates have for them, the passion they have for football and how important football and winning is to these gentlemen,” Snead said.
The two cornerbacks are looking forward to getting started.
“It won’t be my first time changing teams, man,” Talib said. “I’m a social butterfly. I’ll fit in just fine.”
Said Peters: “I’m just trying to come find me a nice comfortable home again.” -
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