Rams working out which of their free agents fit new schemes

Rams GM: Re-signing CB Johnson a ‘big decision’

Kevin Patra

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000780280/article/rams-gm-resigning-cb-johnson-a-big-decision?utm_content=buffer21adb&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Trumaine Johnson played 2016 under the franchise tag. Now the Los Angeles Rams are stuck with another quandary in the secondary: How much do you pay the No. 1 corner in a mediocre secondary?

In a Q&A with Gary Klein of the L.A. Times, Rams GM Les Snead noted that the decision on Johnson could shape the offseason focus.

“That will be a big decision,” Snead said. “Wade (Phillips), like a lot of [defensive coordinators], likes good players on the outside. Trumaine fits that category. … Trumaine is a larger guy with good ball skills and all things like that. Is it a square in a square, a triangle in a triangle or more a rectangle in a square? … That’s probably one of the top priorities when Wade walks in the door because, obviously, the magnitude of what his contract will look like and the magnitude of what another franchise tag looks like and everything in between.”

Much will be made about the Phillips traditionally running a 3-4 while the Rams were built for a 4-3. Linebackers are a need for L.A., but the back end of the defense will be just as vital for Snead.

In 2016 there was little depth in the Rams’ secondary behind Johnson and Lamarcus Joyner, with the likes of E.J. Gaines and Troy Hill getting picked on mercilessly by opposing quarterbacks.

The 6-foot-2 Johnson is ideally suited for Phillips’ defense as a player that can be put on an island on the outside and matchup one-on-one with opposing No. 1 receivers.

Johnson owns the leverage — it would cost the Rams $16.8 million to franchise the corner again in 2017 — and could set the market for corners.

Los Angeles has about $40 million in cap space entering next season, per OverTheCap.com. Making sure Phillips has one stud corner for his system should be a priority for Snead.

Last offseason the Rams chose to tag Johnson over Janoris Jenkins. Now Snead is staring at the possibility of seeing another top-tier corner walk out of the building.

InvaderRam wrote:

trujo NEEDS to be re-signed.

they need to improve the pass rush and trujo will be fine.

they need another corner and a free safety on top of that for the secondary. maybe they have a candidate for free safety already on the roster.

sanbagger wrote:

If they don’t sign Tru it’s because they want to use the cap space on other signings.

I agree that Tru is an important signing and somebody is gonna pony up.

That said, I think the Rams have some pretty good young DB’s…Does Wade want to go in to next year with that corps and maybe a cheaper Vet? I wouldn’t think so but sure is gonna be fun to see how it plays out.

wv wrote:

I dunno. Sixteen million. I think Tru is a good solid player, but I think they might be able to sign a bigger playmaker than Tru for that kind of money.

w
v

BTW I haven’t formed anything like a “strong opinion” on this yet. So basically I am just thinking out loud.

But looking at money might be interesting.

Here’s the average annual amount for the top 10 corners solely in terms of what they’re paid.

Josh Norman $15,000,000
Darrelle Revis $14,024,212
Patrick Peterson $14,010,000
Richard Sherman $14,000,000
Trumaine Johnson $13,952,000
Joe Haden $13,500,000
Janoris Jenkins $12,500,000
Darius Slay $12,000,000
Byron Maxwell $10,500,000
Jimmy Smith $10,275,500

sanbagger wrote:

Does Wade want to go in to next year with that corps and maybe a cheaper Vet? I wouldn’t think so but sure is gonna be fun to see how it plays out.

To me, if they don’t sign Tru it could be because they want to use big money for someone/something else.

That’s just a guess.

It’s a good draft for CBs plus they have a few guys on the roster, with film on them too because they had to play some different guys.

Here are the snap counts from PFR, defensive snaps only. I include Joyner even though IMO he isn’t really a nickel-CB (more of a nickel safety).

Blake Countess CB 141 12.94%
Troy Hill CB 336 30.83%
Mike Jordan CB 177 16.24%
Lamarcus Joyner CB 700 64.22%
E.J. Gaines CB 614 56.33%
Trumaine Johnson CB 953 87.43%