The Los Angeles Rams recently made Alec Ogletree one of the highest-paid players in the NFL, signing him to a four-year extension that sees him earn more guaranteed money than any inside linebacker in the league other than Luke Kuechly.

While he’s certainly been a decent piece for the Rams, the contract is a bit perplexing when comparing his resume side-by-side with the other linebackers who are paid similarly or less.

Kuechly, for example, is one of the best players in the league – regardless of position. He’s a four-time Pro Bowler, 3x First-Team All-Pro, 2012 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and has twice been named the Butkus Award – which has been going to the NFL’s best linebacker of the year since 2008.

Ogletree’s never been named to a Pro Bowl and there’s a legitimate argument to be made that he’s not even been the best inside linebacker on his own team since their move to Los Angeles. Mark Barron has been a menace in the pass defense as a hybrid linebacker/safety and is an equally prolific tackler, while Pro Football Focus reminded us back in July that Ogletree led the league in missed tackles (17) by a linebacker in run defense in 2016.

In fact, PFF currently has Ogletree as their lowest-rated (34.7) starting player on the Rams defense. They also have him ranked at 80th among all NFL linebackers. Fellow Rams LBs Barron (74.4) and the under-performing Robert Quinn (48.8) and Connor Barwin (41.5) all come in higher. And in defense of Quinn and Barwin, they hold immense value as leaders on the field and in the locker room.

Perhaps Ogletree’s most intrinsic value to the Rams is as their defensive signal caller, a role he was promoted to in 2016 when he moved to middle linebacker. There’s no doubt he’s still important to the defense, but he’s also not getting it done on the field in terms of productivity – and he hasn’t been for quite some time now.

The size of the payday is all a bit alarming, especially when considering the fact that Aaron Donald remains without a new contract despite continuing to be the best defensive tackle in the game.