5 immediate winners from the Marcus Peters trade to the Rams

The Chiefs and Rams pulled off the second big trade of the offseason, when Kansas City sent Marcus Peters to Los Angeles.

Details of what the Chiefs got in return haven’t been revealed yet, but the Rams acquire one of the best cornerback talents in the NFL. Kansas City is moving on from a player that’s grown to be a bit polarizing within the organization.

But the trade means more to the NFL and the offseason than just the Rams and Chiefs, despite them being the only two parties involved.

Here are the immediate winners and losers of the trade.

Congratulations to the Broncos, Raiders, and Chargers — you no longer have to see Marcus Peters twice a year! Peters made the Pro Bowl in his first two seasons in the NFL, including an All-Pro nod in 2016.

He wasn’t a Pro Bowler in 2017, but still had five interceptions, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and a touchdown. He also had 42 total tackles, the second most in his three seasons as a pro.

Nine of his 19 career interceptions came against AFC West opponents.

The AFC West turned out to be pretty competitive towards the end of the season, but with Peters gone, the Chiefs will be looking to fill a void at cornerback. They added Kendall Fuller in the trade for Alex Smith, but could use some depth at the position.

Johnson got the franchise tag from the Rams two consecutive seasons in a row, earning a nice $30.69 million chunk. Getting a third was already unlikely, but now it’s nearly official that he’ll be able to look to a new team and hefty extension.

In his first six NFL seasons, Johnson had 18 picks, and 67 passes defended. He’s still just 28 years old — while that’s not the youth a team might prefer in a defensive back they’re about to toss money at, he’s clearly still got game.

The market will have another talented cornerback, assuming Johnson does indeed become a free agent. Malcolm Butler, E.J. Gaines, Rashaan Melvin, Aaron Colvin, Breshaud Breeland, Bryce Callahan, Patrick Robinson, and others will be more spread out than they were before.

Depending on Johnson’s contract, that could also set the tone for other defensive backs in the market, making them winners, too.

Marcus Peters is a pretty damn good football player, as evidenced by his interceptions since he joined the NFL in 2015:

The Rams were going to need another cornerback. They’re expected to throw Lamarcus Joyner the franchise tag, after already giving it to Trumaine Johnson the past two seasons. Assuming that they do indeed keep Joyner now, they’ve got a nice looking defensive backfield going into 2018.

The move is a strong one for the Rams. Not only did they acquire a great player, but it’s another sign that they probably have this thing going in the right direction after Jeff Fisher had them in a constant dumpster fire. That’s not a bad message to send for Sean McVay and the squad.

While Peters is a great player, the Chiefs didn’t seem to be too happy with his outbursts this season.

As Arrowhead Pride points out, “Officially, Peters has four career unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, in addition to one taunting call. If you watch the Chiefs every week either at Arrowhead Stadium or on television, we all know it could be much worse than that.”

This past season, Peters threw a referee’s flag into the stands after a call he didn’t agree with. He jogged off the field thinking he had been ejected, but only received an unsportsmanlike penalty for it. He then returned to the field, but with no socks.

Former Eagles president Joe Banner tweeted the following today, which would also indicate that Andy Reid’s getting his way:

Peters is a phenomenal talent, there’s no doubting that. But his personality appeared to be too much for Reid and the Chiefs. We’re not sure of what the compensation for the trade is yet, but you have to imagine that it was enough for the Chiefs to get rid of a player that they considered to be a pain.