Rams' sweet victory before last season even began has just been made sweeter right before free agency
Kevin Dotson is not the first player to rebound with his second team after his first team dumped him. He will not be the last, either. The Los Angeles Rams are only concerned with Dotson's future as they locked him in with a three-year, $48 million contract, as reported by Bleacher Report's Jordan Schultz. The […]
Kevin Dotson is not the first player to rebound with his second team after his first team dumped him. He will not be the last, either.
The Los Angeles Rams are only concerned with Dotson's future as they locked him in with a three-year, $48 million contract, as reported by Bleacher Report's Jordan Schultz.
The Rams were about to enter the 2023 season without Dotson even remotely in their plans. A trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers right before final cuts sent Dotson out to L.A. for the price of a swapping a fourth-round pick for a fifth-round pick, and a fifth-round pick for a sixth-round pick.
How many Day 3 NFL Draft picks end up worthy of a $16 million deal with over $30 million guaranteed? The answer is not very many.
Los Angeles has emphatically won its trade with Pittsburgh by re-signing Kevin Dotson
Dotson was in a tough spot just seven months ago. He was entering the last year of his rookie contract with the Steelers, and he ended up on the outside looking in. Still, he was a relatively early draft pick with starting experience. Those players have at least some trade value, especially when dealt right up at a deadline.
Instead of waiving him, the Steelers swapped two separate picks in two separate drafts to send him to the Rams, who needed new offensive line talent to steamroll defenses on their way to a playoff berth.
Steamrolling is exactly what Dotson did. He helped Kyren Williams become the first 1,000-yard rusher for the Rams since Todd Gurley. Only Quinn Meinerz of the Denver Broncos had a higher run blocking grade than Dotson's 88.3 from Pro Football Focus. He was a perfect scheme fit as he entered what L.A. hopes is the beginning of his prime.
The Rams didn't have to develop Dotson, or watching him underwhelm as a young starter leading up to all of this. They simply traded back twice in the next two drafts to acquire one of the best run-blocking offensive linemen in the NFL, who's still just 27 years old.
Last year already sealed the win for Rams in this trade. Extending him before any other team got the chance to sign him for their own is an expensive, but delicious, cherry on top.
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