Los Angeles Rams: Aqib Talib a target after Robert Quinn trade?
The Los Angeles Rams freed up just enough cap space to land Aqib Talib in a trade if they so desire after trading away Robert Quinn…
The Los Angeles Rams have been one of the most active teams on the NFL trade market over the past year, and they just traded a former All-Pro defensive end in Robert Quinn to the Miami Dolphins as their latest blockbuster move.
The Rams also acquired former Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs, and only gave up a fourth round pick in this year’s draft to do so.
Are the Rams done wheeling and dealing?
I don’t think so. I think Denver Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib could be up next on their list of targeted players.
Trumaine Johnson and Nickell Robey-Coleman are two of the Rams’ top cornerbacks, and both are unrestricted free agents this offseason. The addition of Peters would seem to spell the end of Trumaine Johnson in Los Angeles, who is likely to leave on a big money contract elsewhere.
But with the Rams getting younger and cheaper on one side at the cornerback position, they could now look to upgrade the other cornerback spot with Wade Phillips’ old friend Aqib Talib.
It’s fitting that trading Quinn saved the Rams nearly $12 million in cap space, and they would be on the hook for just $11 million this season for Talib.
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Trading Talib would save the Broncos $11 million, and help them achieve their goal of maximizing cap space for a quarterback (Kirk Cousins the obvious top target). For the Rams, who now have nearly $50 million in cap space following the Robert Quinn trade, it would significantly upgrade their secondary from what it was even this past season with Phillips calling the plays, and they’d be getting Talib on a very team-friendly deal.
With Peters’ cap hit this season just around $1.7 million, and Talib’s at $12 million, they would likely be getting both Peters and Talib at a cheaper rate than Trumaine Johnson is going to be making this year alone.
It would be really great planning by the Rams to add Talib, whose cap hit decreases in 2019 to just $8 million, while Peters’ cap hit will increase to around $9 million with his fifth-year rookie option coming up.
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Even at a combined roughly $17 million next season, the Rams would be getting two Pro Bowl cornerbacks at an incredibly discounted rate in today’s NFL.
This would be a great trade for both parties, and if Talib has any say in where he’s going, I’d be willing to bet he would love to play for Phillips and go out and play in Los Angeles.