The Rams signed defensive tackle Dominique Easley after the Patriots released the 2014 first-round draft pick. And now that Easley is eligible for free agency, the Rams have a fairly cheap way to keep him from leaving.
The Rams, per a league source, have applied the low-level, original-round tender to Easley. It allows them to keep him for $1.797 million, and to get a first-round pick if someone else signs him to an offer sheet that the Rams don’t match.
Easley appeared in all 16 games (zero starts) last year, with 3.5 sacks. He appeared in 11 games in 2014 and 11 games in 2015 with the Patriots, started three times.