Rams May Explore Trumaine Johnson Extension

The Rams would have preferred to trade franchise-tagged cornerback Trumaine Johnson before their offseason program begins on Monday, and while a deal is still possible, Los Angeles may now attempt to work out an extension with Johnson prior to the July 15 deadline, according to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com."<strong

Johnson, 27, quickly signed his free agent tender after it was assigned, and is now scheduled to earn a fully guaranteed base salary of $16.742MM. Because Johnson was also tagged last year, he’ll rake in 120% of his 2016 paycheck. That money will all come in the form of base salary, so any club that acquires Johnson would be responsible for that total.

A long-term deal, meanwhile, would allow the Rams to lower Johnson’s exorbitant cap charge by moving a significant amount of guarantees into a signing bonus, which would be prorated on the salary cap over several seasons. As Gonzalez notes, Los Angles has several important players set to reach free agency in the next two years — including Aaron Donald, Alec Ogletree, and Lamarcus Joyner — and the extra cap space would ease the task of retaining them.

The Rams were reportedly discussing Johnson with “multiple teams” when free agency opened, but no deal ever came to fruition. So far, the only club that’s even been tangentially linked to the Johnson talks is the Browns.

View Comments (14)