After winning their division for the first time since the 2003 NFL season, the Los Angeles Rams have clearly established themselves as one of the NFL’s premier up-and-coming teams. Fueled by an electric offense designed by head coach Sean McVay and a stout defense led by defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, the Rams turned themselves into the league’s feel good story of the 2017 NFL season.
Despite falling short in the Wild Card round of the 2017 NFL Playoffs, there was still plenty of optimism surrounding the team given all their young talent on both ends. In an effort to add to their quality young core, the front office has been busy adding stars to their rosters.
The Rams made a splash by adding Pro Bowl cornerback Marcus Peters, giving them a legitimate shutdown corner on the outside. However, in an effort to clear enough cap space to sign their free agents, Los Angeles decided to trade Alec Ogletree to the New York Giants in exchange for a pair of 2018 draft picks.
While the move makes sense financially, several players like Todd Gurley expressed their displeasure of the news:
😡😡
— Todd Gurley II (@TG3II) March 7, 2018
Ogletree was one of the team’s captains during the 2017 NFL season and was their clear emotional leader on and off the field. Gurley’s reaction to the news was expected given his close relationship with Ogletree during their time together.
With free agents like Nickell Robey-Coleman and Sammy Watkins still needing new contracts, Los Angeles needed to dump salary and trading Ogletree made sense. Now it will be interesting to see how the Rams fill their sudden need at linebacker as free agency and the 2018 NFL Draft approaches.
