3 reasons why LA Rams blew it by failing to trade for Ryan Kerrigan

Reason II: Both Sean McVay and Kevin O’Connell know Ryan Kerrigan

Familiarity with an NFL free agent or player is incredibly valuable. Much of the risk in the NFL is the presumption that the past performance of an NFL player can be repeated on a new team, with new coaches, among new players.  That’s the risk of any player trade, or of any NFL personnel move whatsoever.

So when coaches can vouch for a player’s character and work ethic, it’s a very good advantage in any trade scenario. The Rams had two such advantages in assessing the contribution of Ryan Kerrigan. Bot head coach Sean McVay and offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell know Kerrigan personally and practiced their offensive against him while they coached at Washington. And they know the impact he can make on defense.

One-year rental, plus interest

While the Rams would have had a good boost from Kerrigan on the football field, the team would likely have benefited equally as well whether or not the Rams had re-signed Kerrigan. The reason being is that due to the fact that Ryan Kerrigan is in the last year of his contract, the Ram’s could have gotten him for a sixth-round draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. But his value would likely have attracted a meaningful contract.

The result would have been a likely fifth-round compensatory pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. A solid performer on the field, and the impact of getting back a more valuable pick in 2022 for a 2021 NFL Draft pick. So adding Kerrigan would be just his pro-rated remaining salary for 2020.  His presence on the defense would have afforded the Rams an opportunity to ease younger players into the rotation.  Right now, the Rams depth at the outside linebacker positions is fairly shallow.