Rams Re-sign Derion Kendrick

It's unclear at this moment why the Rams made these moves regarding Kendrick. There's speculation going around that this means the Rams are out on acquiring Jalen Ramsey. Here's why.

Kendrick's departure freed up $3.4 million on the Rams' cap. According to Over The Cap, that would place the Rams at about $22 million in total cap space. Jalen Ramsey's current cap hit sits at $16.6 million.

No one can manage a team with $2 million in cap space entering a season. That's where the Rams would have been at had they acquired Ramsey before waiving Kendrick. Should the Rams acquire Ramsey now, they would have $5.4 million remaining. The Rams can work with that, even increasing their cap through a midseason restructuring of someone else's deal.

Sean McVay doesn't lie, but he never tells whole truths. No coach does. He flat-out rejected Jaire Alexander. He rejected adding any defensive back but made sure to specifically state Ramsey was a different story.

“No, I feel good about where we're at," stated Sean McVay two weeks ago when asked about adding to the secondary. "Obviously, Jalen's a unique deal, but I think we all feel this way in terms of the guys that have played."

So perhaps negotiations for Ramsey fell through, McVay, true to his word about adding defensive backs, wanted Kendrick back, and now he's a Ram again. That's one theory.

Another is that there was money freed up from waiving and then re-signing Kendricks and the Rams are still in the hunt for Ramsey. In that case, a cornerback competing may signal Ramsey would play safety if acquired.

It's a complex situation as the Rams are in Maui for their minicamp. Sean McVay is expected to speak while in the islands and perhaps could provide clarity for the move. This is his last statement regarding Ramsey.

“We haven't had a lot of those discussions. There are so many layers to the Jalen conversation. Obviously, with (CB) Jaire (Alexander), a lot of respect for him as a player, haven’t talked about those types of things. Our main focus is… This will really represent our last OTA day so we've kind of just been focused on our group. (General Manager) Les (Snead) and I have had some dialogue and discussions as it relates to the Jalen thing, but there's really no news to report on. And with Jaire, nothing but respect for the player but I don't know if that's a direction that we would go.”