Now that the "Big 3 Release" dust has kinda settled...

[Rams43]

I'm still feeling verrrrry encouraged.

For one thing, this decision is exactly like one that a new HC would have made. Is it just possible that Fisher has jumped on the "win now" train? If so, this bodes well for our '16 season.

Based on reading between the lines regarding these 3 cuts and polishing my crystal ball, here are my thoughts, fwiw.

Our D can be scary good this year. The funds to retain our ascending FA's are now readily available. That means that Jenkins, TruJo, McLeod, Hayes, and Barron are almost certain to remain. That's huge.

Maybe even extending Brockers is doable now. Fairley might be a possibility, too. I'm on the fence about keeping Fairley, depending on the cost.

We need a quality LDE. Can't settle here. Gotta be a high ceiling player, maybe even taken with our 1st, depending on who falls. Hayes can start until the kid gets up to speed.

I think a MLB is on their agenda. Might be a FA. Might be a 3rd or 4th rounder. Some may disagree, but I'm not sold on moving Tree to MLB just yet.

That new LDE upgrades our D to another level with proven players that know GW's schemes and have proven to play very well together.

As to the O...

Even more options are now available than before the releases, even after the D is "finished"...

For starters, if a QB such as Bradford or Cousins should somehow be available in FA, the Rams will have the chips for serious bidding. Or maybe they have their eye on a lesser known QB via trade or FA. Here again, the Rams are competitive because they know that they don't need to use draft picks to replace departed players on D.

A TE via FA is also in play. Don't need a Gronkowski, but I bet that some FA's at TE might be both attractive and now affordable with our new cap dollars. And I mean vet TE's that will be FAR more productive than Cook was. Or possibly a TE such as Hunter will fall in the draft.

Even a FA #2 WR is realistic. We can draft our #1 WR, but a quality #2 WR would be a helluva upgrade over Quick and I doubt that Bailey will ever take another snap for us.

Getting a QB via draft or FA is now a more realistic goal. Same with TE and WR. Nice to have $66 million in available cap dollars, huh? Especially if spent wisely.

I truly believe that if they play their cards right, this team can take that step to the next level. That's right... Playoffs! Maybe even a deep run, at that.

Or am I missing something?

 

[Force16X]

it is a shame that a salary cap exists with the amount of cash this moneymaker sport brings in. that being said, look at baseball though. i do miss the 70's and 80's when your team could keep a solid core of players to return more often than not. now its, one great contract year so pay me or i'll leave. greed isnt always good.

 

[BonifayRam]

I'm still feeling verrrrry encouraged.
Our D can be scary good this year. The funds to retain our ascending FA's are now readily available. That means that Jenkins, TruJo, McLeod, Hayes, and Barron are almost certain to remain. That's huge.

Maybe even extending Brockers is doable now. Fairley might be a possibility, too. I'm on the fence about keeping Fairley, depending on the cost.

We need a quality LDE. Can't settle here. Gotta be a high ceiling player, maybe even taken with our 1st, depending on who falls. Hayes can start until the kid gets up to speed.

I think a MLB is on their agenda. Might be a FA. Might be a 3rd or 4th rounder. Some may disagree, but I'm not sold on moving Tree to MLB just yet.

That new LDE upgrades our D to another level with proven players that know GW's schemes and have proven to play very well together...........

I feel better this Saturday morning that last week after these 3 releases yes. As far as to how scarry the D will be many elements of this D are still very Unsettled. The Brockers deal is major very major. If DT Brockers is wanting a deal like what DT Fletcher Cox is demanding & reportedly seeking up to $50 million in guaranteed money???? not going to happen.

Right now I would bet that the Rams want the Brockers deal done NOW! If they can not get that done then they will go after UFA Nick Fairley or other UFA DT's & a high selection of a DT in the draft is mandated will be plan B.

DE is also a concern but the Rams do have Quinn/Westbrooks/Longacre but a Hayes short tern deal is more likely than a long term deal if Hayes bolts then Rams may seek help elsewhere like a cheaper Eugene Sims. MLB is not up there with the DT & DE positions. Rams have four prospects signed under contract now that could fill the part time post of MLB'er.

 

[Picked4td]

it is a shame that a salary cap exists with the amount of cash this moneymaker sport brings in. that being said, look at baseball though. i do miss the 70's and 80's when your team could keep a solid core of players to return more often than not. now its, one great contract year so pay me or i'll leave. greed isnt always good.

No salary cap is the dumbest thing in sports IMO. Not sure how its fun to see a few teams be able to just buy their teams while the lower market teams are stuck with the players not worth the big bucks. Not a fan of baseball, mainly because of the no cap, but I cant imagine it was fun seeing the Yankees win the world series all the time because they just bought the best players every year

 

[A.J. Hicks]

I believe Stedman will be playing for us again. I can't really believe it, I'm sure the doctors say no. The only thing holding him back, in my eyes, would be the NFL saying we don't want to take a health risk like that - but I don't know the entire circumstances.

I know he dropped to 170 lb. living in the hospital and already has himself back up to 191 - his goal 200 (I believe that was his playing weight). The guy is working his butt off, pretty inspiring. I follow his Twitter and Snapchat. He is working out daily.

 

[Ladoc]

I'm still feeling verrrrry encouraged.

For one thing, this decision is exactly like one that a new HC would have made. Is it just possible that Fisher has jumped on the "win now" train? If so, this bodes well for our '16 season.

Based on reading between the lines regarding these 3 cuts and polishing my crystal ball, here are my thoughts, fwiw.

Our D can be scary good this year. The funds to retain our ascending FA's are now readily available. That means that Jenkins, TruJo, McLeod, Hayes, and Barron are almost certain to remain. That's huge.

Maybe even extending Brockers is doable now. Fairley might be a possibility, too. I'm on the fence about keeping Fairley, depending on the cost.

We need a quality LDE. Can't settle here. Gotta be a high ceiling player, maybe even taken with our 1st, depending on who falls. Hayes can start until the kid gets up to speed.

I think a MLB is on their agenda. Might be a FA. Might be a 3rd or 4th rounder. Some may disagree, but I'm not sold on moving Tree to MLB just yet.

That new LDE upgrades our D to another level with proven players that know GW's schemes and have proven to play very well together.

As to the O...

Even more options are now available than before the releases, even after the D is "finished"...

For starters, if a QB such as Bradford or Cousins should somehow be available in FA, the Rams will have the chips for serious bidding. Or maybe they have their eye on a lesser known QB via trade or FA. Here again, the Rams are competitive because they know that they don't need to use draft picks to replace departed players on D.

A TE via FA is also in play. Don't need a Gronkowski, but I bet that some FA's at TE might be both attractive and now affordable with our new cap dollars. And I mean vet TE's that will be FAR more productive than Cook was. Or possibly a TE such as Hunter will fall in the draft.

Even a FA #2 WR is realistic. We can draft our #1 WR, but a quality #2 WR would be a helluva upgrade over Quick and I doubt that Bailey will ever take another snap for us.

Getting a QB via draft or FA is now a more realistic goal. Same with TE and WR. Nice to have $66 million in available cap dollars, huh? Especially if spent wisely.

I truly believe that if they play their cards right, this team can take that step to the next level. That's right... Playoffs! Maybe even a deep run, at that.

Or am I missing something?

From Walters.. Sounds like an upgrade is inevitable:
James Laurinaitis, ILB, Rams. Age: 29.

image: http://walterfootball.com/images/fball/star.gif

image: http://walterfootball.com/images/fball/star.gif

James Laurinaitis looked like he would be a great pro for a very long time in his first couple of NFL seasons, but he has inexplicably regressed since. He was so bad last year that he could've been considered the worst starting linebacker in the NFL. I'm not sure what happened to Laurinaitis, and there's still time to turn things around, but if he weren't such a big name, I'd probably have him as a 1.5-star player; I'm just listing him here because he's a big name and needs a write-up.

Read more at http://walterfootball.com/freeagents2016ILB.php#lmTK83mSBi8xQWt2.99

 

[Rams43]

I feel better this Saturday morning that last week after these 3 releases yes. As far as to how scarry the D will be many elements of this D are still very Unsettled. The Brockers deal is major very major. If DT Brockers is wanting a deal like what DT Fletcher Cox is demanding & reportedly seeking up to $50 million in guaranteed money???? not going to happen.

Right now I would bet that the Rams want the Brockers deal done NOW! If they can not get that done then they will go after UFA Nick Fairley or other UFA DT's & a high selection of a DT in the draft is mandated will be plan B.

DE is also a concern but the Rams do have Quinn/Westbrooks/Longacre but a Hayes short tern deal is more likely than a long term deal if Hayes bolts then Rams may seek help elsewhere like a cheaper Eugene Sims. MLB is not up there with the DT & DE positions. Rams have four prospects signed under contract now that could fill the part time post of MLB'er.

We're on the same page with regard to Brockers, Bonifay. It's important to get him extended, if possible.

But LDE is a "must have" now. It practically was anyway even before Long was released.

And that's assuming that Hayes is a slam dunk signing because he loves playing for Fisher.

Again, our D is predicated on a dominating front 4. "Pretty good" isn't quite good enough to allow all GW's packages to be consistently successful. Simply gotta add a stud LDE this offseason.

Besides, who knows if Quinn will be back at 100%? If he is, that's one thing. But if he isn't, we will have a "pretty good" front 4, at best.

The good news is that this draft class has a bumper crop of outstanding DE's.

We do agree that MLB takes a back seat to front 4 in our hierarchy of needs.

 

[DaveFan'51]

MLB is not up there with the DT & DE positions. Rams have four prospects signed under contract now that could fill the part time post of MLB'er.

I'm just not sure this^ is the case! The MLB is usually the Captain of the "D"!!

 

[CGI_Ram]

No salary cap is the dumbest thing in sports IMO. Not sure how its fun to see a few teams be able to just buy their teams while the lower market teams are stuck with the players not worth the big bucks. Not a fan of baseball, mainly because of the no cap, but I cant imagine it was fun seeing the Yankees win the world series all the time because they just bought the best players every year

I am in your camp, brother.

 

[MrMotes]

No salary cap is one of the reasons teams like Dallas and SF constantly outperformed us in the 80's.

Plus the cap is as much excuse as it is the reason for unloading older players in favor of the younger ones...

 

[Force16X]

No salary cap is the dumbest thing in sports IMO. Not sure how its fun to see a few teams be able to just buy their teams while the lower market teams are stuck with the players not worth the big bucks. Not a fan of baseball, mainly because of the no cap, but I cant imagine it was fun seeing the Yankees win the world series all the time because they just bought the best players every year

i agree............thats why i put in the wisecrack about baseball. hockey's cap goes up / down depending on nhl profitability and / or the value of the canadian dollar (which is going to be important this summer).

i like how basketball institutes the "larry bird" contracts to help with salary cap conformity, and allows teams to keep "their" players https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_salary_cap#Larry_Bird_exception.

hockey uses the LTIR (long term injured reserve) rule for teams up against the cap who lose a player due to injury. (its not easy to use and sometimes can cause more harm than good if used unwisely, but at least its there.)

what would football be like without teams in the past being able to keep the "fearsome foursome" , "purple people eaters", "steel curtain", "doomsday defenses" together for years on end ? the Rams felt this the most when trying to keep the GSOT together, which left little monies for the defensive personnel they really needed.

basically i'd like to see a more team friendly cap that allows at least teams own draft picks to be able to be signed easier (free agents be damned).

 

[Q729]

No salary cap is one of the reasons teams like Dallas and SF constantly outperformed us in the 80's.

Plus the cap is as much excuse as it is the reason for unloading older players in favor of the younger ones...

This. Plus, the whole point of the cap is for the parity we supposedly see in the league. Without it, the rich teams stockpile the talent, while the small market teams whither in mediocrity at best. Of course, the system hasn't really helped us much. As I stated in another thread, players go where the money and winning is. Throw enough money at a supposed talent, and you're left with nothing for the rest of the team, but the perennial losers continue to do so...

 

[A55VA6]

No salary cap is the dumbest thing in sports IMO. Not sure how its fun to see a few teams be able to just buy their teams while the lower market teams are stuck with the players not worth the big bucks. Not a fan of baseball, mainly because of the no cap, but I cant imagine it was fun seeing the Yankees win the world series all the time because they just bought the best players every year

totally agree.

 

[tempests]

No salary cap is the dumbest thing in sports IMO. Not sure how its fun to see a few teams be able to just buy their teams while the lower market teams are stuck with the players not worth the big bucks. Not a fan of baseball, mainly because of the no cap, but I cant imagine it was fun seeing the Yankees win the world series all the time because they just bought the best players every year

Of the ten top payrolls in baseball last year, only one team won a playoff series. There's more parity than people realize, although not as much as in football.

 

[Warner4Prez]

I said in a previous post that I think we'll now be in the hunt for Mario Williams if he becomes available (as is rumored). Hayes is a good guy, but he's just as old as Long and he's logged more time over the last couple of seasons filling in for him, so an attempted upgrade should probably be coming down the pipe.

Also, the big money buys championships thing in baseball is pretty well played out now. 5 of the last 6 teams to win have done so on the back of home grown talent and a good trade or two in the case of KC. Baseball is all about the big TV contract money now, which has helped spread the wealth for teams more than anything.

 

[Loyal]

Well, we were not as successful in the 1980's because we had Georgia as owner. I wasn't aware back then that it was an unlimited Cap that caused us to lose to the Niners? We had a pretty darn good team in that decade and John Robinson (HC back then) is still the winningnest HC in Rams history..Having said that, if money is what it takes to win in an uncapped NFL, then Paul Allen and Stan Kronke have the juice to be the best...:mrburns:

 

[BonifayRam]

I said in a previous post that I think we'll now be in the hunt for Mario Williams if he becomes available (as is rumored). Hayes is a good guy, but he's just as old as Long and he's logged more time over the last couple of seasons filling in for him, so an attempted upgrade should probably be coming down the pipe.Also, the big money buys championships thing in baseball is pretty well played out now. 5 of the last 6 teams to win have done so on the back of home grown talent and a good trade or two in the case of KC. Baseball is all about the big TV contract money now, which has helped spread the wealth for teams more than anything.

Going to take really big cap chunk to land Mario. Rams already have a big sign in front of them with NT Brockers who will demand a nice size cap chunk the size of a Mario, then they will need to position themselves ( Cap wise) to be able to sign DT Aaron Donald too a few yrs from now. I just do not see a big cap chunk signing coming in @ LDE. Mario also plays Robert Quinn position RDE in a 4-3-4.

Unless the back surgery done on Quinn would suggest a flip from right to left to give his back time to heal.

 

[LesBaker]

We're on the same page with regard to Brockers, Bonifay. It's important to get him extended, if possible.

But LDE is a "must have" now. It practically was anyway even before Long was released.

And that's assuming that Hayes is a slam dunk signing because he loves playing for Fisher.

Again, our D is predicated on a dominating front 4. "Pretty good" isn't quite good enough to allow all GW's packages to be consistently successful. Simply gotta add a stud LDE this offseason.

Besides, who knows if Quinn will be back at 100%? If he is, that's one thing. But if he isn't, we will have a "pretty good" front 4, at best.

The good news is that this draft class has a bumper crop of outstanding DE's.

We do agree that MLB takes a back seat to front 4 in our hierarchy of needs.

The Ram had an excellent front four with Quinn playing hurt and not up to par and played great when he was out. Same with Long. Back surgery can be tricky and there is a chance Quinn will never be quite the same. Quinn is outstanding, but I think people tend to project his 19 sack year a couple of years ago to what he will bring every year and that's just unreasonable.

The front 4 was kicking ass wihtout either of those guys. I'm not saying not to draft a DE on either side but if they don't IMO it won't hurt the D much at all.

 

[Memento]

If we're going after an unrestricted free agent who isn't on our team...why not Olivier Vernon of the Miami Dolphins? He plays LE, was their most productive defensive lineman last year, and likely won't be franchised because of the limited funds the Dolphins have. And the kicker? He's only twenty-five.

 

[Merlin]

Nice to see you rollin out some positive vibes again @Rams43 . Here's a nice depth chart I've been lookin at for the discussion.

Biggest three needs on defense (assuming the DBs are mostly re-signed as expected now) are DE, DT, and MLB. NOTE, however, that all three are likely depth need positions. The Rams will bring Hayes back almost for certain, he loves playing for Fish and had a great season eating most of the snaps at LDE. The DE need is for a guy who can not get run over while bringing good depth, and in this particular draft you can find a DE like that for several rounds due to the impressive depth of the position.

DT is the same way. Barring a FA solution the Rams need a young big bodied guy for the rotation who can come in and stuff the run at least early on as he develops. Those types are available well into midrounds in this draft. Let Brockers play an impending-FA season, it ensures he'll play his butt off and we're gonna need it.

MLB? Same thing. You have guys like Wright who are going to start in this league that will be available into round 3-4 depending on which option you're talking about. Also, I think Ogletree is a legit MLB option provided the Rams do a good job of adding another big DT and ensure that rotation is fresh in front of him. Injury would be my only concern really. And remember that with all the subbing that goes on in today's game Ogletree gives the Rams great flexibility for deep and quick drops in the passing game, he's like an extra safety on the field.

On the offense we gotta wait and see who's available. I'm praying both Jeffries and Fleener make the FA market but neither might. Either way though, yeah, they're gonna get a WR who upgrades this unit and maybe more than one? Who knows but my hope is a solid WR with good hands and a TE who can also move the chains. I think one of each would be outstanding.

QB remains my biggest worry, but hey one phase at a time right? Next stop is retaining these DBs.