St. Louis Likely to Pursue CB Alterraun Verner?

Jeff Fisher has made a habit of bringing players he coached in Tennessee over to St. Louis since becoming Head Coach in 2012.

As Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes, CB Alterraun Verner could be the next player making that switch.

“I think Verner makes a lot of sense.” Thomas writes while answering a question regarding the Rams’ potential interest in Verner. “Not only does Fisher know about him, but he blossomed into a Pro Bowler last season when Gregg Williams was a senior defensive assistant.”

Thomas even went so far as to say; “In fact, I would be surprised if the Rams didn’t make an effort to get him signed.”

Clearly, the Rams pursuit of Verner would make sense.  In addition to Verner’s connections to the current Rams coaching staff, it appears increasingly unlikely that Tennessee will be able to bring Verner back.

Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean recently mentioned that the team does not plan to place the franchise tag on Verner, which would cost roughly $11.2 million for one season.  Further, Tennessee has already spent substantial money on the cornerback position, most notably on Jason McCourty.

The Rams could certainly use an upgrade at cornerback, as both Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson struggled last year.  Cortland Finnegan was a big disappointment for the Rams and could be cut, which would save the Rams roughly $4 million in cap space.

Signing Verner would require some tinkering to their roster to make this happen financially, as the Rams currently have less than $1 million in available cap space, according to OverTheCap.com.

The 25 year-old Verner would provide an upgrade, however, and could help to solidify the Rams secondary in the coming years. Pro Football Focus rated Verner as the No. 12 cornerback in the NFL last year, and we have him listed as the No. 6 player in our Top 100 Free Agents list.