Los Angeles Rams CB Trumaine Johnson Officially Signs Franchise Tag

Trumaine Johnson is scheduled to make $16.7 million from the Los Angeles Rams during the 2017 season.

For the second year in a row, the Los Angeles Rams recently placed the franchise tag on Trumaine Johnson, which scheduled him to be the league’s highest paid cornerback at just under $17 million. On Monday, Johnson and the Rams made the move official when the cornerback signed his franchise tag, although only time will tell when it comes to whether a long-term deal will be reached between the two parties.

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As bad as it sounds, the Rams found themselves in a tough position this offseason since they couldn’t afford to lose Johnson, but also seemed hesitant towards rewarding him with a long-term deal. After an impressive 2015 campaign in which he recorded seven interceptions, Los Angeles felt confident enough to move forward with Johnson as their top cornerback while letting Janoris Jenkins hit the open market.

When taking this into consideration, the decision to place the franchise tag on Johnson shouldn’t have come as a surprise since the last thing the Rams wanted to do was risk losing another top cornerback in the free agency market. A long-term deal could still end up happening down the road, but if Los Angeles allowed Johnson to hit the open market, there’s a good chance he would have received a much better offer from a different team.

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Overpaid or not, the Rams had no choice but to use the franchise tag on their beloved cornerback in Johnson, and expectations will be high once again now that Wade Phillips joined Sean McVay‘s staff as the new defensive coordinator. Johnson’s play may have been down this past season after only recording one interception, but hopefully a much-needed change to the coaching staff with Phillips along with the extra motivation to perform well enough for a future long-term deal will help for better results in 2017.