Report: Los Angeles Rams trade for Aqib Talib

The Los Angeles Rams’ busy offseason just got even busier.

Unsatisfied with trading for one AFC West cornerback, the Seattle Seahawks’ bitter NFC West rivals have snagged another one. NFL Network’s James Palmer reported on Thursday that Aqib Talib will go from the Denver Broncos to the Rams. Adam Schefter later followed things up by saying the Rams will give up a 2018 fifth-round pick.

Talib is 32 years old and has spent the last four seasons with Denver, where he won a Super Bowl ring and earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2016. His 2017 saw him get just one interception (albeit a 103-yard touchdown), seven passes defensed (lowest of his entire career), and 31 tackles (fewest since his rookie season back in 2008). While that may sound uninspiring, he did make Michael Crabtree mad for the second time in as many years. He’s due $11 million in 2018, and his contract runs out in 2019.

This move also reunites Talib with defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, so there’s built-in familiarity with his scheme.

One would assume that between trading for Peters, Talib, and tagging safety Lamarcus Joyner, CB Trumaine Johnson is going to walk in free agency. Either way, the Rams needed corners this offseason, and they’ve got them.

On another note, the Rams also signed cornerback Sam Shields, whose concussion problems led to him being out of football for all of 2017, and most of 2016 when he was with the Green Bay Packers.