Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean McVay: “We absolutely want to sign CB Marcus Peters to extension”

[BonifayRam]

https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2019/...-to-sign-cb-marcus-peters-to-extension-roster

Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean McVay: “We absolutely want to sign CB Marcus Peters to extension”
Can a tiger change his stripes? We’ll find out in the next year or so.
By Sosa Kremenjas

At the annual NFL league meetings, Los Angeles Rams Head Coach shared the idea that the Rams absolutely want to sign CB Marcus Peters to a long-term extension, per Lindsey Thiry:Sean McVay said that the Rams "Absolutely" want to sign CB Marcus Peters to an extension, noting his improved play in the second half of the season. Peters is entering fifth season of rookie deal.

— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) March 26, 2019
Peters was originally acquired by the Rams in the 2018 offseason by way of a trade which sent the Rams’ 2019 second-round pick and 2018 fourth-round pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for the mercurial cornerback. His first season with the Rams was a roller coaster as a calf injury sustained in week three against the Los Angeles Chargers hampered him for a while, making him one of the least effective corners in the league up until about week 10, per Pro Football Focus. The return of CB Aqib Talib sparked a change in Peters’ play though, and he went on to finish the second half of 2018 with a strong showing. Part of that can be attributed to playing more off coverage both in zone and man, and not needing to shadow receivers, instead living at his spot at right cornerback.

Peters is currently on a fifth-year option that’ll cost the Rams just under $9.1m this year. Peters is slated to be a free agent in 2020, though according to Sean McVay, the Rams have interest in extending Peters for the foreseeable future. Looking at the cornerback market, it’s fair to assume Peters will demand top dollar, looking to likely top former Rams’ CB Trumaine Johnson’s five-year $72.5m with $45m guaranteed contract from the New York Jets.

Where things become interesting is that the Rams simply have been reluctant to prioritize the secondary in terms of long-term extensions. It dates back to the days of CB’s Janoris Jenkins, Trumaine Johnson, and safeties Rodney McLeod, Lamarcus Joyner, T.J. McDonald, and Maurice Alexander, all of which weren’t handed long-term contracts and walked away to different franchises. General Manager Les Snead even called retaining the secondary “Priority A” many years ago, though things never materialized.Peters remains a highly talented player who is emotional and not a cookie-cutter personality, but does that mean he’s not worthy of a long-term extension? Who knows. The important factor is the Rams have another 16 games (potentially more) to evaluate how Peters fits into Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips’ defense.

There is another report from bleacherreport.com below

https://bleacherreport.com/articles...t-to-sign-marcus-peters-to-contract-extension

 

[BonifayRam]

https://arrowheadaddict.com/2019/03/26/marcus-peters-will-get-long-term-commitment-rams/

Marcus Peters will get long-term commitment from Rams
by Matt Conner

The L.A. Rams are willing to give cornerback Marcus Peters the long-term commitment that the Kansas City Chiefs were never ready to offer.

As Marcus Peters enters the fifth year option attached to his rookie deal, questions about his long-term future have come into view. Yet when it comes to whether or not the Los Angeles Rams are willing to commit to the cornerback for the long-term, head coach Sean McVay says there’s actually no question at all.

McVay answered reporters asking about Peters’ looming free agency, saying the Rams “absolutely” want to get a deal done with the former Chiefs corner that will keep him in L.A. for years to come.

It’s interesting to watch two competitive franchises develop very different takes on how to handle a player like Peters. Despite creating turnovers at a historic level with the Chiefs, Peters was largely viewed as a mercurial product, a malcontent who didn’t fit well with a heartland team. A large section of the team’s fan base were just fine forgoing such incredible production on the field; in fact, some even wrote him off, claiming he was overrated or taking him to task for a lack of effort.

Given the personality conflict and attitude concerns, the Chiefs traded Peters in a shocking offseason deal last year that brought back a mere fourth round pick and a second-round choice in the following (read: this year’s) draft. For an All-Pro corner on a rookie deal, the return was fairly abysmal.

The Rams clearly are pleased with their end of the deal as they look to extend Peters. He started slow with the Rams and failed to look like the sort of shutdown option in a brand new scheme with Wade Phillips as his new defensive coordinator. However, experience brought him around as he excelled in the season’s second half and worked in tandem with Aqib Talib to make it to the Super Bowl.

It’s hard to fault the Chiefs side of things given their ability to compete in the AFC despite the loss, and it’s not as if teams were lining up to better the Rams’ offer. It will be interesting to see the terms of any forthcoming extension, including any potential outs the Rams might give themselves in case of emergency.

Peters had 3 interceptions for the Rams last year, including a game-winning pick-six against the Oakland Raiders.

 

[hotanez]

I have to admit I'm a little surprised that they want to extend him.

 

[Ken]

More coachspeak. The Rams are not going to extend Peters until next offseason, if then. It will depend on how well he plays in his 2nd year of Wade's D. He needs to show a high level of play this coming season, IMO, to have any chance the Rams will extend him. Depending on needs, the Rams might franchise him, like they did TJ.

 

[Austin]

I think if you could extend him at a bargain rate this year, that would be a smart move.

I doubt Peters or his agent would be looking to sign a long-term (2 to 4 year) contract off a down year though.

The guy played hurt in a new system. He's talented, and I'd bet on him bouncing back.

 

[Riverumbbq]

I have to admit I'm a little surprised that they want to extend him.

If the Rams have confidence in him, there is no better time. Lets face it, the Rams need some CAP relief this year, if we can extend Peters that will greatly lower his 2019 CAP hit.

 

[PhillyRam]

Yeah, what is he supposed to say...

Nah... Hell no!!

 

[Soul Surfer]

I have to admit I'm a little surprised that they want to extend him.

Of course they *want* to but that doesn't mean they will.
It all depends on how he plays this year and letting Peters know they want to sign him should bring out the best in him.

 

[Akrasian]

If the Rams have confidence in him, there is no better time. Lets face it, the Rams need some CAP relief this year, if we can extend Peters that will greatly lower his 2019 CAP hit.

Will it? With the contracts being given out to good cornerbacks right now? Peters' cap hit for 2019 is 19th for cornerbacks (compared to averages). Unless they backload it rather heavily, I don't see him agreeing to any significant dropping of his cap hit - He's going to want an average salary well over $10 million - the top 11 all average $12 million or more. It's things like that that make me expect a cornerback picked relatively early, maybe 2.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Will it? With the contracts being given out to good cornerbacks right now? Peters' cap hit for 2019 is 19th for cornerbacks (compared to averages). Unless they backload it rather heavily, I don't see him agreeing to any significant dropping of his cap hit - He's going to want an average salary well over $10 million - the top 11 all average $12 million or more. It's things like that that make me expect a cornerback picked relatively early, maybe 2.

Sure. Peters is only 26, if the Rams were to sign him to a 4 year, $44.mil contract, his 2019 CAP hit might drop to $5.mil instead of the $9. mil that is scheduled for this year. 2020 has us currently near $92.mil in CAP availability. Rams often get CAP relief with 1'st year in long term contracts where year two is higher and the 3'rd & 4'th years would be more balanced. Peters might get some $22mil guaranteed and a huge roster bonus that is spread out over the lifetime of his contract which makes up for his smaller 2019 salary. jmo.

 

[TSFH Fan]

For the PFF fans, MP #4 in the League, weeks 10-17:


View: https://twitter.com/PFF_Packers/status/1107677421795454977

 

[Akrasian]

Sure. Peters is only 26, if the Rams were to sign him to a 4 year, $44.mil contract, his 2019 CAP hit might drop to $5.mil instead of the $9. mil that is scheduled for this year. 2020 has us currently near $92.mil in CAP availability. Rams often get CAP relief with 1'st year in long term contracts where year two is higher and the 3'rd & 4'th years would be more balanced. Peters might get some $22mil guaranteed and a huge roster bonus that is spread out over the lifetime of his contract which makes up for his smaller 2019 salary. jmo.

That estimated cap space is with 32 players under contract. Not under contract would be Peters, Talib, Goff, Fowler, Brockers, Littleton, and a bunch of others. So the real cap space is much lower, once those expensive players are either resigned or replaced. Besides which, I doubt he signs a 4 year, $44 million contract. That would tie him for #13 in average cap hit among CBs - but most of those ahead of him signed several years ago, before the current inflation. He would almost certainly test the market than settle for that. And pushing his cap hit ahead a year or two just creates other issues with some of the huge contracts coming.

 

[Riverumbbq]

That estimated cap space is with 32 players under contract. Not under contract would be Peters, Talib, Goff, Fowler, Brockers, Littleton, and a bunch of others. So the real cap space is much lower, once those expensive players are either resigned or replaced. Besides which, I doubt he signs a 4 year, $44 million contract. That would tie him for #13 in average cap hit among CBs - but most of those ahead of him signed several years ago, before the current inflation. He would almost certainly test the market than settle for that. And pushing his cap hit ahead a year or two just creates other issues with some of the huge contracts coming.

It was just an example, I have no idea what the Rams or Peters & his agent see as a more realistic number. As for 2020, there will be low cost players added to the roster in both the 2019 and 2020 draft, that's more than 14 or more new players if you count them making the team and a few UDFA's making it, ... so guys like Whitworth, Talib, Brockers, Fowler & others won't necessarily be a factor, only management can answer those questions.

 

[OntarioRam]

What else is he going to say? That Peters isn't in their long-term plans? Come on...

Personally, I wouldn't necessarily mind extending Peters if the money is right, although his up and down season gives one cause for concern. He was very good to start the year. Then he got hurt, and was awful when he came back and Talib was out. Whether that was due to lingering injury, not being able to produce without a capable press corner opposite him (which would be a problem - if you want to commit big money to a CB, he can't be reliant on others to look even halfway decent), not being utilized correctly by Wade, a combination of all of those things, or some other factor.... we will never know. Then, as we all know, Peters slowly got better week by week around the time Talib came back. By the time the playoffs rolled around, I'd say Peters was playing excellent. And he kept that form up throughout the post-season.

Given his youth and body of work in Kansas City, I'd wager the "real" Peters is closer to what we saw in the playoffs than the middle of the regular season. Hence why I wouldn't mind an extension. We did give up assets to acquire him. And it sure is getting tiresome seeing young CBs leave in their prime. But on the other hand, it seems we moved on at the right time from Jenkins and Tru Jo. Peters might well be the same story. Particularly as Peters strikes me as a player that will have salary demands far higher than his worth.

If nothing else, it is nice having another season of him in horns to better evaluate him.

 

[Psycho_X]

Yeah, Peters was lights out end of season and playoffs. Combo of Talib coming back and Wade using him better. Not sure there’s a better cb combo in league when they are both healthy. I hope they both stay healthy for 2019 to see what they can do for a whole season.

 

[Mackeyser]

I hope they extend them both. Extend Talib so we get another year from him as well, maybe two. He's clearly still on the top of his game.

 

[wild ram]

Yeah, what is he supposed to say...

Nah... Hell no!!

That’s just crap !! Talib &’Peters are tight & held down the CB spots. Was said he had him facing forward instead of being a cover corner.
He played real well in that setting.Mcvay is fairly straight up.

 

[Merlin]

I'm sure the Rams do want to extend him... At their number.

Let's wait and see how this plays out. At this point the CB who deserves the extension is Talib.

 

[NERamsFan]

I know many will disagree with this idea and the likelihood is low, but why not poke around Ramsey? I’ve been suggesting all off-season he would be a perfect Rams-type trade candidate bc of the fifth year option and bc of his lack of fit in Jax. It would cost quite a bit of draft capital next year, but why not?