Revisit LA Rams CB Peters and Ramsey trades

LA Rams traded CB Marcus Peters to Baltimore Ravens, helping them to earn bye in NFL Playoffs. Meanwhile Jacksonville Jaguars traded CB Jalen Ramsey to Rams. Who won trade?

Former LA Rams CB Marcus Peters was certainly a very talented player. But he was also very high maintenance, and controversial.  To be more precise, he created controversy during almost his entire time with the LA Rams. So much so, that he eventually was traded by the Rams to the Baltimore Ravens.

From the moment he arrived to the team from the Kansas City Chiefs in February 2018, Peters brought drama – both the good and the bad variety.  Once a top cornerback in the NFL, Peters simply could not adapt to the Rams style of play.

Peters reads receivers and plays off the quarterback’s eyes.  But the Rams defend by scheme.  The mix showed up as bad play by Peters time and again. All the while, the Rams faced Peters’ contract expiration in 2020.  The likelihood of retaining Peters via a new contract seemed less and less likely with each game. Even worse, there was little incentive for the team to hold contract renewal negotiations.

By October 2019, the Rams had enough, and elected to go in a different direction. Shedding an under-performing Peters was the NFL equivalent of a salary dump. The objective was not to “get what he might be worth”, but rather to get the best possible return to shed his contract and salary cap hit.

Traitor! … er… Trader!

The Rams found a willing trading partner in the Baltimore Ravens. Those same Ravens were eager to go in a different direction as well.  Thus, a trade occurred, and we’ve discussed the trade components previously.

With Peters gone, the Rams now had the salary cap space to trade for an even more coveted cornerback in the NFL – Jacksonville Jaguars’ Jalen Ramsey. So the net result of both trades was:

So what are the pieces of the puzzle? Well there are the four distinct components:

CB Peters to Ravens
CB Ramsey and LB Young to Rams
Ravens 2020 5th round pick to Rams
Rams 2020 1st, 2021 1st and 2021 4th to Jaguars.

We know the Ravens feel as though they won with Peters. In ten games, he generated three interceptions and ten passes defended. His play helped the Ravens earn top seeding in the 2019 NFL playoffs.

Meanwhile the promising linebacker Young played in four more games with the Rams than Ravens, but recorded just 4 tackles versus the 13 for the Ravens. The Rams have yet to select the 2020 draft pick.

Jags gamble pays off

As for the Jaguars? Those three picks will generate a tremendous amount of excitement for their fans during the NFL Draft. For the Rams?  Ramsey’s presence on the Rams did not help much.  The Rams + Ramsey were just 4-4, while Ramsey added just one interception and 33 tackles over his eight games.

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The Jaguars flirted with playoff aspirations as they played to mid season with a 4-4 record. But a 2-6 spiral downward grounded their hopes for playoffs.  Still, their struggles felt more on  the offensive side of the ball. Ramsey’s departure did not seem to cause the drop-off. And they are in position to rebound well in 2020 and 2021 with additional draft picks.

Meanwhile the LA Rams feel like a team in need of 2020 draft picks.  The team has invested their salary cap heavily to too few marquis players, and will need to be incredibly savvy this offseason.  The team must also re-sign Ramsey to a multi-year deal. Failing to do so create the perception that the cost for renting Ramsey as way too high.

Of course, there are still many components to the trades to properly assess the outcome just yet.  But if you examine the Baltimore Ravens (13-3, home field advantage in playoffs, Peters extended), the Jacksonville Jaguars (3 added NFL draft picks, no pressure to sign Ramsey to costly contract, plenty to build on) and the LA Rams (limited salary cap, need to sign Ramsey to significant contract, no first round pick in next two consecutive NFL drafts), the sense is that the Rams now have a steeper hill to climb.

That all makes sense. After all, the LA Rams bet on a win-now scenario, and failed to win now. Successful organizations in any professional sport take chances. Sometimes they pan out. Sometimes not. The Rams can still win it all next season.  All in all, it was worth the risk to gamble on Ramsey. Peters was not working out for the LA Rams. Perhaps Ramsey will. In the end, failing to try improving the team simply ensures failure.