Jason Cole of B/R reports that the Rams’ recent decision to cut release DE Chris Long, LB James Laurinaitis, and TE Jared Cook. was designed to give them the cap space they would need to re-sign Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson, and possibly pursue a quarterback upgrade.
Los Angeles now is among the teams with the most cap space to work with at nearly $60 million to work with, so it’s conceivable that they could accomplish as much this offseason.
As of now, Cole mentions that the Rams are still debating whether to place their franchise or transition tag on one of their two cornerbacks.
Once they have an idea of whether they’ll be able to retain Johnson and Jenkins, they’ll turn their attention to finding a quarterback. However, Cole rules out the possibility of the pursuing Peyton Manning, which had previously been suggested.
Interestingly enough, Cole says they could, at the very least, consider bringing back Sam Bradford. Although, this would be pretty surprising, given how things went with him in years past.
Jenkins, 26, was taken in the second round of the 2012 draft and has one year remaining on his four-year, $4.99 million rookie contract that included $2.964 million guaranteed. He’ll make a base salary of just $660,000 for the 2015 season, so you can see that he’s in line for a substantial raise next year.
In 2015, Jenkins appeared in 15 games and recorded 64 tackles, three interceptions, a forced fumble, and 15 pass defenses for the Rams. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 26 cornerback out of 111 qualifying players.
Johnson, 26, is a former third-round pick of the Rams back in 2012. He’s played out his rookie contract and is now in position to be one of the best available cornerbacks in this year’s free agent class.
In 2015, Johnson appeared in 14 games and recorded 71 tackles, seven interceptions with one being returned for a touchdown, a fumble recovery and 17 pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 19 cornerback out of 111 qualifying players.
We have both players featured in our Top 100 – 2016 Free Agents list.
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