When the Rams slapped starting cornerback Trumaine Johnson with the franchise tag last month, they put themselves in salary cap jail – which is not the place a 4-12 team wants to find themselves.

Johnson’s $16.7 million dollar franchise tag makes him the highest paid cornerback in the NFL in 2017, and while his breakout season in 2015 was impressive, he backslid last season. The point is, he’s just not worth that kind of money, and very few players are.

That’s why the rumors that the Rams are shopping him have persisted, despite any real movement or tangible conversation.

While talks surrounding #Saints WR Brandin Cooks have garnered the attention, #Rams continue to speak with teams about CB Trumaine Johnson — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2017

However on Thursday, Johnson himself posted the following photo to his Snapchat story, insinuating that he’d heard something recently in regards to a possible trade.

“Still on the trading block I hear! It’s all good! Control what i can control — message to myself!!! Rams Nation just want to say I appreciate you from STL – LA! Nothing but love! Can’t wait to hear what my future holds…”

Johnson is certainly a talented cornerback and will be an asset to any secondary that he’s a part of, but the Rams have major needs at multiple positions and are without a first-round pick in this year’s draft – so by holding onto Johnson they’ve severely hamstrung themselves on other fronts.

If parting is inevitable, it will clearly be bittersweet for both Johnson and the fans – but it’s hard to argue that it would be the luckiest break the Rams could hope for.