The Los Angeles Rams announced on Tuesday that they have re-signed cornerback Derion Kendrick, who was just waived last week.
Kendrick was originally drafted by the Rams in the sixth round out of Georgia in 2022. He played 32 games for the team in his first two seasons, starting 18 of them and recording 92 total tackles, 14 passes defensed and one interception.
Unfortunately, Kendrick’s third season with the Rams ended before it ever started as he tore his ACL during training camp and missed the whole year. It remains to be seen exactly where Kendrick is at in his rehab, although he should be ready to go for the start of the regular season.
It’s also unclear why the Rams chose to waive Kendrick and then re-sign him, but it’s no secret that cornerback is a position of need for L.A. They have veterans Darious Williams and Ahkello Witherspoon on the roster along with young guys like Cobie Durant, Emmanuel Forbes, Shaun Jolly, Josh Wallace and Charles Wood with Kendrick now reentering the mix as well.
In recent weeks, the team has been linked to a potential reunion with Jalen Ramsey, their former All-Pro cornerback, although nothing has come to fruition just yet. There was thought that waiving Kendrick was to open up a roster spot for Ramsey, although that is obviously not the case with the team now re-signing the former.
Rams head coach Sean McVay also sounds open to the idea of the team bringing back Jalen Ramsey, but noted there would be a lot of moving parts to make it work.
“He’s a great player. We know him very well. We know him intimately. You would certainly never rule out the possibility of that, but like Les articulated, our focus and concentration are on this week’s upcoming draft,” McVay said.
“There are a lot of layers that would need to be worked out with a player of his magnitude and some of the different things that accompany that, but you would never eliminate the possibility of adding a total stud and a guy that can do a lot of different things, like he’s continued to do. Like he did here, like he did in Jacksonville and like he’s done over the last couple of years in Miami.”
Given how expensive Ramsey’s contract is, the Miami Dolphins would likely have to eat a portion of the salary and wouldn’t get much draft capital back in a deal, making it a desirable move for conerback-needy teams like the Rams.
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