Update:
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports that the Rams have told people that they’re prepared to use their franchise tag on either Janoris Jenkins or Trumaine Johnson.
As of now, the Rams are still in the process of determining which player will be tagged, according to La Canfora.
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Jason Cole of B/R reports that either Janoris Jenkins or Trumaine Johnson will receive the franchise tag in the coming weeks.
According to Cole, the Rams recently improved their offer to a five-year deal for Jenkins. However, they’ve yet to extend an offer to Johnson, which implies he could be the one tagged if they can re-sign Jenkins.
Rams HC Jeff Fisher mentioned a few days ago that he is hoping to “sign my secondary” with their huge amount of cap space, per Nick Wagoner.
Los Angeles release DE Chris Long, LB James Laurinaitis, and TE Jared Cook. last week, which leaves them 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 keep both Jenkins and Johnson.
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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Although neither Jenkins or Johnson are “shutdown” corners, they are both well above average and have their prime years ahead of them.
I think it would be a smart move to get them BOTH signed, even if that means using the franchise tag on one of them. It’s a passing league and you can never have enough corners.