LA Rams 2019 mid-season additions act like 2020 NFL Draft picks

Addition 1: Cornerback

When the LA Rams decided to trade for cornerback Jalen Ramsey, the team had to overcome a number of hurdles in order to do so. The team had to clear a roster spot. In addition, the team had to clear sufficient salary cap space to do so. And then ultimately, the LA Rams needed to exchange sufficient assets to make the trade complete.

Despite the lack of a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the LA Rams can equate that value in obtaining one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL today, Jalen Ramsey.  The Rams traded their 2020 first-round pick plus their 2021 first and fourth-round picks to the Jacksonville Jaguars for cornerback Ramsey, whose contract expires in 2020.

The ultimate cost to the Rams for Ramsey is more than the picks required to pry him from the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also cost the Rams the play of both Aquib Talib, Marcus Peters, and a fifth-round pick. Ultimately, was he worth it? Yes.

In the 2020 NFL Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars selected edge rusher, K’Lavon Chaisson with the 20th pick. Four cornerbacks had already been selected off the board and the players remaining on the board did not have the same value as that of Rams CB Ramsey. In essence, Ramsey is the equivalent of the Rams 2020 first-round draft pick.

While the LA Rams added nine rookie players in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Rams have the equivalent of a fourth-round pick for Coleman Shelton, a second-round pick for Austin Corbett, and a first-round pick for Jalen Ramsey. That translates into 12 pick-equivalents from the 2020 NFL Draft and includes two interior offensive linemen who will be capable of starting in 2020, plus an elite cornerback. In the end, the LA Rams 2020 NFL Draft was fairly comprehensive after all.