Rams Free-Agent safety Marqui Christian to sign 1-year deal with Jets

The LA Rams free agents continue to be scooped up by other NFL teams. The latest signing is safety Marqui Christian agreeing to sign with the New York Jets

The LA Rams may not be losing NFL stars any longer. But the slow drip-drip exodus of free agent Rams’ players is taking a toll on the team’s projection for the 2020 NFL season.  So far the team’s 2020 roster no longer has OLB Clay Matthews, S Eric Weddle, CB Nickell Robey-Coleman, DE Michael Brockers, OLB Dante Fowler Jr., ILB Cory Littleton, ILB Bryce Hager, QB Blake Bortles, K Greg Zuerlein, WR Mike Thomas, KR Jojo Natson, and S Marqui Christian.

The team did re-sign both OT Andrew Whitworth and C Austin Blythe. The team also managed to sign OLB Leonard Floyd and DL A’Shawn Robinson.

We did a one-page full analysis for Christian, and very much liked what we revealed.  While Christian was initially a special team contributor only, he has found a larger role in the team’s defense over the past two seasons.  He has always been a solid contributor on special teams, and that will likely be where the LA Rams will most feel his absence.

Christian is not a starting safety for the LA Rams, nor would he be expected to earn a starting role for the team this season. But as we described in our analysis, he is a plug and play all over the LA Rams defense, and allows the team to rotate him at multiple defensive roles without additional players to fill their differing responsibilities.

We expected Christian to generate some interest and estimated his new contract from $1 – 2.25 million. While he lands at the high end of the earnings estimate, he settles for a one-year prove-it deal, far shorter than our projected 4-year deal.