Did Rams make the right call trading Alec Ogletree to Giants?

In another surprise move, the Los Angeles Rams agreed to trade Alec Ogletree to the New York Giants on Wednesday.

The new year in the NFL hasn’t even officially gotten underway, and the Los Angeles Rams have already been one of the busiest teams when it comes to all of the moves being made, ranging from acquiring Marcus Peters to trading Robert Quinn to the Miami Dolphins. However, as surprising as both of those trades were to see happen, it’s safe to say that nothing tops the team’s decision to send Alec Ogletree to the New York Giants when looking at everything the linebacker’s done for the defense throughout his career.

From a leadership perspective, Ogletree was one of the best in the business, and if there were members of the Rams upset over losing Quinn, one can only imagine some of their reactions to hearing the news surrounding the beloved linebacker. Even if these kind of moves happen all the time at the NFL level, losing Ogletree to a team like New York doesn’t make the decision any easier for Los Angeles to deal with.

Obviously, this move was made to clear up some salary cap space for the Rams after they rewarded him with a hefty four-year, $42 million extension in the middle of last season, and there are other players, mainly Aaron Donald, who will be looking for a big payday soon. But when seeing what Los Angeles will receive from New York in return for Ogletree, it makes the trade even more frustrating for fans to accept.

Related Story: 6 teams that could sign Watkins in free agency

Sadly, it’s quite common for NFL teams to trade key players in exchange for mid-round draft picks, but seeing that all it took for the Giants to land Ogletree was basically a fourth and sixth rounder is an absolute joke. As much praise as Los Angeles received for the other trades involving Peters and Quinn, this news surrounding Ogletree is one tough pill to swallow since it was so unexpected to see happen. Not to mention, the loss of Ogletree means the Rams will have an even bigger need at linebacker to address over the next few months, although it’s safe to say that nobody will be able to replace their soon to be former leader on defense.