INDIANAPOLIS — Ahead of the 1 p.m. PT deadline, news came down Wednesday morning that the Rams had placed their non-exclusive franchise tag on cornerback Trumaine Johnson for the second year in a row.
With the non-exclusive tag, other teams may negotiate with Johnson. But if any other team were to strike a deal with the cornerback, it would owe Los Angeles two first-round picks as compensation.
In other words, even with the non-exclusive tag, the cost is extremely prohibitive for the other 31 NFL teams.
On Thursday, general manager Les Snead addressed the media at the NFL Combine and explained the team’s thinking on utilizing the franchise tag for Johnson in consecutive years.