I'll preface by saying I would be a fairly conservative GM and not have made most of the major trades the Rams did the past 3+ years. That said, after digesting all this a bit, I do at least understand the moves.
First, with Peters, let's be honest he was never a fit in that defense (separate issue...) and he was (a) not playing well and (b) going to be a free agent. Now would he have received a big deal elsewhere and netted the Rams a let's say 4th round comp. pick in 2021? Sure. And Talib is clearly on his last legs- he may have in fact now played his last game as a Ram.
So as you said would they have drafted a CB in the 1st round next April? Could be. But Ramsey paired with Hill, NRC and Long is a far better proposition than a rookie with those three.
Part of the question of these deals is "well how do the Rams maintain decent depth with all those top-end contracts?" Good question. But the moves yesterday did, in part, address that. Corbett may never be more than their 7th OL and Young may become a situational LB and special teams guy. And a 5th round pick (from BAL) is a 5th round pick. But those
are depth moves.
The Rams OL is still far and away their biggest issue. Anything else is directly tied to that. So yes, that's their top priority. A group in 2020 that includes Havenstein, Noteboom, Allen, Edwards, Corbett and Evans doesn't inspire a ton of confidence... But they're not incapable of upgrading the OL- through free agency and the Draft- after these deals. Just like Weddle and Matthews were never on our radar this March before they were added, most likely veteran OL will shake loose. A 2nd round pick on the OL could be an instant starter. Etc.
In today's NFL on defense you need pass rushers and cover corners. We can argue about ILB and NT but that's all very much secondary to those things. They've added easily one of the top 3 CBs in the game (maybe the best) at a time when that position was going to be pretty barren for them after this season. They got out in front of it. Now let's go scout some Senior Bowl OL next February....
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2019 04:25AM by LMU93.
