The Rams have a salary cap albatross with recently franchised tag cornerback Trumaine Johnson—one of the few shutdown corners in the league.

At 6-foot-2, Johnson is one of the largest players at that position. He is currently eating up $16.7 million dollars of the salary cap for the Rams, while failing to reach a consensus with the team on a long term contract.

Rams Continue To Talk Trumaine Johnson Trade https://t.co/jRza7V1aQk pic.twitter.com/Nna7hlf3wZ — Pro Football Rumors (@pfrumors) March 10, 2017

It would be easy to say no one in their right mind would take on the salary hit that trading for Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would bring. But let’s just remember that we are talking about Jones.

There’s a short window for teams to take advantage of not having the brunt of their salary cap taken up by their starting quarterback, and the Cowboys are entering year two of that situation with reigning Rookie of the Year Dak Prescott.

Jones knows he has a short window where he doesn’t have to pay Prescott and stud running back Ezekiel Elliott like star players. His defense is in drastic need of talent with the loss four starters in it’s secondary.

Torrey Smith (now with the Philadelphia Eagles) is 6-foot-2, Terrelle Pryor (with Washington) and Alshon Jeffery (also with the Eagles) are both 6-foot-4 and Brandon Marshall (now with the New York Giants) is 6-foot-5.

But the Cowboys have an entire secondary with an average height of 5-foot-10. Johnson would bring necessary height to the NFC East defense.

The Dallas owner, meanwhile, has a history of making moves when he thinks his team is a player away from breaking through to the promise land.

Jones thought the Cowboys were a receiving threat away from returning to glory so he sent Seattle two first rounders in exchange for franchised receiver Joey Galloway.

Related Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson is a Top 25 free agent this offseason

Galloway didn’t pan out, but Seattle used one of those picks on Shaun Alexander — who would go on to rush for 2000 yards, win the MVP and take Seattle to its first Super Bowl.

Jones also thought the team was again just a receiver away and he sent the Detroit Lions a first, third and sixth-round picks for Roy Williams.

This time around, the Cowboys simply cannot afford to take chances in their secondary when they know a talented player like Johnson could make up for issues that stopped them from getting past the second round in the playoffs.

The Rams may not be able to get two first round picks from Jerry Jones — or even a first and a third.

But for a team like Los Angeles bogged down by cap issue and a lack of draft picks, anything higher than a third rounder would be a step in the right direction for the franchise.

If they play this right, however, the Rams will have $16.7 million in fresh cap space and new draft picks to use next month. Someone tell Rams general manager Les Snead to send Jones a beloved bottle of Johnny Walker Blue to get this ball rolling.