Just five months after signing Alec Ogletree to a lucrative new contract extension, the Rams turned around and traded the star linebacker to the Giants.
What did Los Angeles' brass see down the stretch last season that inspired the sudden about-face?
In a sit-down interview at the Annual League Meeting in Orlando, general manager Les Snead told the Around The NFL Podcast that Ogletree was a victim of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips' cornerback-oriented scheme.
"Great leader, great human. We re-signed him because he was one of our best football players," Snead explained. "But when we went back and really analyzed, talked about, discussed what makes Wade's defense go, it's the corner position.
"And interestingly we did the Marcus Peters trade before we did the Aqib Talib trade. But once Aqib became available, how do you fit him within the parameters of your salary cap, with other things like Aaron Donald extension, things like that, coming down the line? Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to get gains. ... Once we came up with that vision, that goal, we attacked the offseason."
As we witnessed with the star-studdedSuper Bowl 50 defense in Denver, great cornerback play allows Phillips to be more creative with his game plans and play calls, unleashing unrelenting pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
While Talib spear-headed the Broncos' celebrated "No Fly Zone" secondary, Phillips made do with a late-round draft pick (Danny Trevathan), a former practice squad member (Brandon Marshall) and an undrafted free agent (Todd Davis) at inside linebacker.
Ogletree's cap number of roughly $12 million for each of the next three years was a luxury Snead could no longer afford once the Rams determined to fulfill Phillips' wish for premium cornerbacks.
By swapping out Ogletree, Robert Quinn and Trumaine Johnson for perennial Pro Bowlers such as Talib, Peters and Ndamukong Suh, the Rams are emerging as perhaps the most compelling team in the league. If Snead manages to land mercurial Giants megastarOdell Beckham as the final masterstroke, NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal won't be the only one proclaiming football's version of Showtime) in Los Angeles.
