The Rams have decided to place a first-round tender on restricted free agency cornerback Darious Williams. One executive with a team not in the NFC West was stunned by the move.
As the source explained it, players who get a second-round RFA tender rarely if ever are signed to an offer sheet by another team. (It’s possibly never happened.) By skipping over that option and going to the first-round compensation level, the Rams are committing an extra $1.5 million to Williams in 2021.
The move becomes even more curious, given that the Rams currently are more than $30 million over the cap.
The text message from the executive then included multiple emojis.
Obviously, the Rams didn’t want to risk losing Williams. However, they are forking over another $1.5 million to buy that risk down from incredibly slim to none.