After losing both of their starting inside linebackers to injuries, the Denver Broncos traded a 2024 sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for a 2024 seventh-round pick and linebacker Kenny Young.
The two teams basically swapped future late-round picks and Denver added a player at a position of need. Those kind of trades aren’t uncommon when fringe players are involved, but Young is anything but a fringe player.
The former fourth-round pick joined the Rams midway through the 2019 season. He went on to play in all 16 games in 2020 and started the first seven games of the 2021 season. Young was productive for Los Angeles, totaling 98 tackles, three sacks, three pass breakups, one interception and one forced fumble.
So why in the world would the Rams, a potential Super Bowl contender, trade a key player to Denver for a mere late-round pick?
“It had nothing to do with my on-the-field ability or anything like that,” Young said during his introductory press conference before Broncos practice on Wednesday. “I think what it was is I was playing well but the way the cap was structured, they needed to take some money off my deal to really get some guys off other areas up and ready to go. That’s what it was about.
“It was about finances. It’s something weird for me. I’ve never heard or experienced that, but it makes sense what they did. I’m not cool with it, but I have to respect it because they had no other choice.”
Los Angeles was desperate to create more salary cap space and with Young scheduled to become a free agent in 2021, they felt he was expendable in exchange for more cap space, even if he was an every-game starter.
The Rams saved about $1.3 million in cap space with the trade, and that was their objective. Denver benefited from L.A.’s cap woes by landing a starting-caliber linebacker at a large discount. He’ll be a welcomed addition to the Broncos’ defense.
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