3 teams that could sign LA Rams’ John Johnson III (for stacks of cash)

Now that the franchise-tag deadline has come and gone and the LA Rams have declined to place the franchise tag on any player, their decision makes safety John Johnston III not only a free agent but very likely a very wealthy player next season.

There will be no shortage of teams soon lining up to secure the services of the secret back-end weapon of the Rams, perhaps as many as 15 teams vying to sign him. And Johnson will be signing a max contract with one of them.

Ka-Ching.

It’s more than that he’s a superbly talented and highly coveted safety, but any future NFL suitor will be catching him at the very crest of his career trajectory, at his prime-time peak, and coming off a rookie contract.

At just 25 years old, he’s been the Rams signal-caller in the back-end, a secondary pit boss on the field of play who not only communicates with the sideline coaches but calls out defensive plays and adjustments pre-snap in a secondary that dupes, disguises and camouflages multiple coverage packages to confuse opposing quarterbacks.

A secondary that shows man coverage, but is actually playing zone or vice versa, or appears to be playing zone but is really playing pass-through coverage. There’s a lot of communicating and moving around in the Rams back-end before the ball is snapped.