3 reasons why LA Rams sign recently cut Giants LB Alec Ogletree?

Reason II – Ogletree makes sense, but only for the right dollars.

Outside linebacker Alec Ogletree is not an elite football player. As such, he should not be paid like one. That’s a mistake the Rams made during Ogletree’s last Rams chapter.  Ogletree was part of the Rams when new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips arrived, and with him, the 3-4 defense.

More from Rams Free Agency

• What if…? This LA Rams IOL shockingly opts for free agency?
• LA Rams should add ‘pass-rush specialist’ in free agency
• Should the LA Rams revisit bringing Odell Beckham Jr. back?
• Why the Los Angeles Rams should extend Baker Mayfield
• Baker Mayfield faces stiff QB competition in NFL Free Agency market

Ogletree had been a 4-3 linebacker but toughed out the transition to the 3-4 defense. Most transitions of that nature take a year or two to iron out the awkwardness, but the Rams had just signed Ogletree to a three-year $42.5 million extension. So he was paid like an elite linebacker, but produced in the bottom half of linebackers.  So the Rams cut their losses and traded him for a fourth and sixth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Not much of a return for a starting linebacker? Well, the Rams were as motivated at the opportunity to clear substantial salary cap space which the team desperately needed. And the return of two draft picks in the 2019 NFL Draft was a nice return for a player who performed well-under his salary compensation.

For Ogletree to make any sense for the LA Rams, the contract will need three components: severability, short duration, limits to guarantees.  Severability meaning the team must be able to vacate the contract without penalty. Short duration in that the contract should be just one or two years. Limits to guarantees in that the contract should have no impact on the team’s dead money for available salary cap calculations.