Sometimes in the NFL you lose players that you desperately want to keep, but the nature of the business and free agency make it either impossible or inadvisable. It wasn’t impossible for the L.A. Rams to keep John Johnson in 2021, but it was inadvisable.
The Rams let their starting safety leave for a three-year, $33.75 million contract with the Cleveland Browns because that was too much money for Les Snead to spend on a free safety. It was too much money for Johnson to walk away from it. The Rams would then win the Super Bowl with Eric Weddle being their primary safety playmaker for the playoffs and Johnson has been losing with the Browns.