Sorry, but I disagree. We aren't talking the usual older well ripened free agents of yesteryear, but talented younger players now working on their 2'nd contract. The Rams have holes at 3 OL positions, doubtful they opt for more than one starting draftee on our line, so rather than wait on hopeful lesser players ... again, I'm all in with turning the unit around from the get-go. With a recovering Bradford or any other QB that happens to find himself starting, lets give him a better opportunity for success than just applying, once again, the services of B - level talent. It appears we can afford it, and the money has to be spent somewhere, ... our O-Line has suffered for near on a decade, fix it once and for all so we can break our ugly pattern for mediocrity. jmo.
Iupati is exactly the type of player that we sign that blows up in our faces again and again. He's an overrated and overpriced player that's about to turn 28 years old that has been getting more and more nicked up the past few years. He's a great run blocker but has major flaws in pass pro. He's a good OG that could be nearing the downside of his career and injury issues that's about to be paid top OG money. IMO, he's the type of guy that will be cut by the end of the third year of his new contract.
And Bulaga is a solid all around player that has had some major durability issues. Again, the type of player that always blows up in our face. And he's about to be paid like a top OT.
I will pass.
Moves like this don't fix it once and for all. They lull us into a false sense of security...like Jake Long, Scott Wells, Jason Brown, Jacob Bell, etc. all did.
Nope. Go get some solid starting OLs with reasonable price tags and draft some highly talented rookies. Because if we throw $15 to $16 million a year combined at Bulaga and Iupati, they're not going to spend high picks on the OL. I'd rather that money go to OUR young players that need extensions and them spend $6 to $7 million a year combined on a couple guys like Justin Blalock/Rob Sims at OG and Jermey Parnell/Ryan Harris/Derek Newton. You come away with an OG and a RT from that list...you have a solid starter for a next year and the Rams still have a reason to go draft a RT and LG of the future. Win-win. We have a bridge player for the rookie, we have depth on our OL, and we have young talent for the future.
And we can take that $8 to $10 million we saved and use it to keep important current Rams on the team.
Frankly, if protecting Sam Bradford is our motivation, I'm not sure why you're calling for Bulaga and Iupati. Sims and Blalock both are superior pass protectors to Iupati(Iupati is the superior run blocker). And Sims/Blalock will be available for shorter contracts, far less guaranteed money, and likely cost $6 million less per year. As far as Bulaga goes, he's a very good pass protector but he's only played 36 of his last 48 games. Hard for him to protect for Sam while he's injured for a quarter of the season.
Yes, I think the best method is to go after a couple mid tier guys who will likely cost the same per year COMBINED that a guy like Iupati will cost by himself. Maybe even less than Iupati. Because we'll have motivation to put talented draft picks behind them giving us veteran starting talent, talented depth in case of injuries, and young OLs for the future. That's a winning formula for me.
