When the Los Angeles Rams traded Marcus Peters to the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday afternoon, many fans and analysts felt another move was coming. It was hard to imagine the team playing out the season with Troy Hill and either David Long or Darious Williams as its starting outside cornerbacks.
Sure enough, the second shoe did drop with the Rams acquiring Jalen Ramsey from the Jaguars later that day. Going from Peters to Ramsey is a clear upgrade, but there was a legitimate chance the Rams would’ve started those backups moving forward.
They made the deal involving Peters without having any assurance that they’d also be getting Ramsey to replace him. Les Snead said Wednesday that it was a possibility they wouldn’t get Ramsey after dealing away Peters.
“I sat down with Coach Phillips, with (CBs coach) Aubrey Pleasant, Coach ‘E’ (safeties coach Ejiro Evero), the defensive backs staff. We talked through the scenarios and you did have to talk through playing the rest of the season – playing Julio Jones and (Calvin) Ridley – without Marcus and with who we had if this couldn’t happen. Because nothing’s certain, especially in situations like that.”
That was a risky proposition for the Rams, given the receivers they still have to face this season – and considering the lack of experience Long and Williams have. Facing Jones, potentially A.J. Green, JuJu Smith Schuster and Amari Cooper the rest of the way without Peters and Aqib Talib for most of those games would’ve been a disaster waiting to happen.
Fortunately, the Rams made the deal happen for Ramsey and they now have a true lockdown cornerback on the outside.
