Los Angeles Rams: 3 Trade Partners For Trumaine Johnson
By Erik Lambert
The Los Angeles Rams are beginning their shift from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense under Wade Phillips. This means cornerback Trumaine Johnson is in trouble.
Though the team used the franchise tag on him for a second time in two years, it became clear what their motives were. Los Angeles seems intent on trading him elsewhere in exchange for a draft pick. What exactly his value is remains debatable. He’s still relatively young at 27-years old and had a terrific season in 2015 with seven interceptions. Despite his regression last year, there is reason to think he can be really good for a new teams.
So who could be the likeliest landing spots? Here are three worth watching for different reasons.
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Best equipped: Cleveland Browns
The Browns are the obvious landing spot for two reasons. They have several high draft picks at their disposal including two 1st and two 2nd rounder. On top of that they just got done hiring Gregg Williams as their defensive coordinator. The same man who developed Johnson during his time with the Rams. A reunion for the two seems like such an easy sell. Especially since the Browns defense is undergoing changes and needs more talented personnel. It’s just not clear whether they have any interest.
Most desperate: New Orleans Saints
Finding help on defense will be the all-consuming obsession for the Saints in 2017. They know they have offensive firepower. Cornerback has really been a pain for them the past few years. It seems like everything they try fails miserably. This is a big reason why their pass defense was the league-worst last season. They need more stability at that position. Johnson would give them a physical element who understands how to keep plays in front of him.
Dark horse: Detroit Lions
This shouldn’t be considered so crazy. The Detroit Lions defense got by with smoke and mirrors for most of 2016. In the end their lack of depth at cornerback haunted them down the stretch with teams constantly hitting them for big plays. Outside of Darius Slay who do they have that’s notable? Nobody. This is a team that feels it’s capable of making a deep playoff run. They the quarterback. It’s a matter of finding enough defense to counterbalance. Pairing Slay with Johnson isn’t a bad plan.