The Denver Broncos have agreed to trade cornerback Aqib Talib to the Los Angeles Rams, according to James Palmer of NFL.com. The compensation is a 2018 fifth-round pick, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
This is an interesting development. The San Francisco 49ers briefly inquired about Talib, but they did not make any offer, I’m told. Talib is 32 years old, and while that’s a big concern for any team acquiring him, he was excellent in coverage last season. He was rated the 15th-best cornerback in the league by Pro Football Focus for the 2017 season.
Los Angeles has also traded for cornerback Marcus Peters this offseason, and have dealt both defensive end Robert Quinn and linebacker Alec Ogletree to the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants, respectively. On top of that, they used the franchise tag on safety Lamarcus Joyner.
It’s pretty clear the team is confident that Aaron Donald can continue to hold down the defensive front — he can — and that they wanted to improve the secondary this offseason. Well now they have, in a big way.
Trumaine Johnson will definitely not be re-joining the Rams at this point, so now we wait for free agency to see how the 49ers address the position. I’m not too bothered by the lack of movement by the 49ers on Peters — a big off-field and locker room concern — and Talib — 32 years old.