The Rams went $ 33.1 million in the week above the NFL salary cap, knowing they were likely to lose more key players than they could afford to sign.
They instantly lost one of their biggest freelance agents when Security John Johnson agreed to leave LA for the Cleveland Browns on Monday and signed a three-year deal worth $ 33.75 million.
Johnson, 25, who was selected in the third round by Boston College in 2017, led the Rams at 105 in 2020 tackles and had impressive stats when it comes to passport coverage. Additionally, he was the team’s defensive signaler and high school captain, and he will always be remembered for intercepting a Drew Brees pass that set Greg Zuerlein’s game-winning field goal in extra time for the 2018 NFC Championship game in New Orleans.
Just before his signature with Cleveland was reported, Johnson posted a goodbye message to Ram’s fans on Instagram. He thanked them for welcoming the Maryland-born man and wrote that he “will always have a special place in my heart for all fans and for the city as a whole. »
In January, coach Sean McVay raved about the challenges the Rams had in hand and how Johnson had quickly become a « great team leader ».
« He’s a playmaker, the versatility, all the different things he can do for our defense, » said McVay. « I mean, he had the green dot (on the caller’s helmet) on which he acted as a communicator. That’s something I appreciate so much in terms of the various intricacies of our defensive activities from a schematic perspective. »
Johnson’s immediate replacement could come from a trio of young players who had both high and low safety positions, Jordan Fuller from round six in 2020, Terrell Burgess from round three in 2020 and Taylor Rapp in round two in 2019. < The previous Monday, the Rams nearly saw cornerback Darious Williams stand for the next season after the team put the restricted free agent out on a contract.
Williams, who turned 28 on Monday, had four career-level interceptions in 2020 and returned for a touchdown in the Rams’ playoff win over the Seahawks.
He held opponents 54.2% deals and a passerby rating of 61.1 on passes thrown at recipients he covered. Williams and colleagues Jalen Ramsey and Troy Hill helped the Rams enable a league low in passing yards, total yards and points. Hill is another unrestricted free agent.
The Rams said they gave Williams a first-round bid for the league-mandated $ 4.766 million for one season. Williams may have other offers, but the Rams can compete with any competing offer. Any team that signs him off would have to give LA a draft pick in the first round, making a bid unlikely for them.
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The Rams started the NFL free agency week with an impressive to-do list.
Monday was the first day NFL teams can negotiate with agents for free-agent players before signing officially starts on Wednesday.
The Rams were already furthest away from a team’s salary cap and temporarily widened their deficit to $ 37.9 million with the tender to Williams.
At this point, they had not taken any steps to break the limit of $ 182.5 million by the Wednesday deadline. General manager Les Snead said last week that they intend to do so by restructuring contracts rather than cutting players. The more time goes by, the harder it seems for them to achieve this.
The Rams list of 12 unrestricted free agents who went into the week was headed by outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, though Johnson was seen as a close second.
The Rams’ pattern over the past three years has been to let go of more big money free agents than they kept or earned, knowing that they would receive draft compensation in return.
They were given a third and fourth round selection for the next cash draft to compensate for the loss of linebackers Dante Fowler and Cory Littleton to the free agency a year ago, and are likely to receive a selection in the same area in 2022 because they lost a player like Johnson.
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