Trumaine Johnson, Kenny Britt headline Rams free agents

Trumaine Johnson, Kenny Britt headline Rams free agents

By Alden Gonzalez

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- T.J. McDonald, a reticent safety now headed for free agency, spoke candidly on Jan. 2, the day after the Los Angeles Rams finished a 4-12 season, when asked about the state of the organization.

"I think a lot of things need to change," McDonald said then. "A lot of things need to change."

A lot has changed. The Rams have since hired a new head coach -- 30-year-old Sean McVay, who added brought in 69-year-old Wade Phillips as defensive coordinator. New schemes will now be implemented on both sides of the ball, which will impact the kind of players the Rams target and create an extra layer of uncertainty with regards to their own free agents.

That includes McDonald, who attended USC and played out of the same venue, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, that the Rams will call home for two more years.

"I don’t know what the future holds for me here," McDonald said. "But if the organization will have me back here, I would love to be back. I always like to finish what I start. I started something here. We have started to build something here. On the defensive side of the ball, we feel like we’re starting something great here. We didn't get it done this year, but I’m not necessarily willing to say that it’s over, or things can’t be turned around. It’s also the business side of this game, and we’ll see what the future holds."

McDonald is one of nine notable unrestricted free agents for the Rams, and below is a categorical look at them all.

CB Trumaine Johnson

Age: 27

2016 base salary: $13.952 million

The numbers: Thirteen interceptions from 2013-15, one shy of the NFL lead during that time. ... Graded out 26th among 112 qualified cornerbacks by Pro Football Focus in 2016.

The future: Johnson played under the franchise tag this past season and was ranked 21st among all potential free agents -- and third among his position group -- in a recent Insider post by ESPN's John ClaytonInsider. He will be pricey. But the Rams need to do their best to keep him and avoid a repeat of last year, when Janoris Jenkins left for the Giants and turned in one of the game's best defensive seasons. The Rams are thin throughout their secondary, and Johnson isn't only their best cornerback; he's their only tall one, too. Johnson is 6-foot-2 and long. The next three cornerbacks on the Rams' depth chart -- E.J. Gaines, Lamarcus Joyner and Troy Hill, respectively -- are no taller than 5-foot-10.

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