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AlbaNY_Ram
If the Rams slapped the franchise tag on Fowler they would immediately take a cap hit of over $16M. And if they signed Littleton they would take another huge cap hit. (The exact amount would depend on the structure of the contract, but $13M to $16M wouldn't surprise me.)
As things stand the Rams can't afford to sign Littleton and tag Fowler.
In addition, if the Rams do figure out a way to tag Fowler they can't trade him unless he signs the offer. My guess: he won't sign the tag offer until a.) the Rams work out a trade with a team that Fowler approves and b.) his new team offers him a long term contract to his liking.
I understand your last paragraph and assumed that all those details would be worked out with all parties before the first domino fell. My question is this. Does the tagging of Fowler trigger the $16M hit such that it can’t convey to the team acquiring him in the trade? If it can’t be passed on then, yeah, it’s a deal breaker. But if it can be passed forward then this should be theoretically doable.