The Los Angeles Rams had until Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET to hand out tenders to their restricted free agents, but they took care of that business one day in advance. The team announced on Tuesday that it has tendered nine restricted and exclusive rights free agents, including Cory Littleton.
Littleton was the only player given a tender higher than the original-round designation, receiving a second-round tender. That tentatively keeps Littleton in Los Angeles for one more year, but it doesn’t guarantee he’ll be back in 2019.
He can negotiate contracts with other teams and if he signs an offer sheet, the Rams have the opportunity to match it. If they opt not to, the team that signs him will have to give the Rams a second-round pick in return for Littleton.
Additionally, Blake Countess, Malcolm Brown and Troy Hill all received original-round tenders as restricted free agents. The Rams won’t get any compensation for Hill or Brown if they leave, since they were undrafted free agents. But Countess would net the Rams a sixth-rounder because that’s where he was drafted.
According to OverTheCap.com, a second-round tender is worth about $3.1 million, while the original-round tender pays $2 million for 2019.
As for the exclusive rights free agents, the Rams tendered JoJo Natson, KhaDarel Hodge, Dominique Hatfield, Morgan Fox and Kevin Peterson. Garrett Sickles was the only player not to get tendered, so he’ll become a free agent on Wednesday.
