Offensive line thoughts

[LetsGoRams]

Here would be my off-season wish list for the offensive line and was hoping others would be able to figure out a few things....

1. Let Joseph walk
2. Re-sign Barksdale
3. Cut Jake Long
4. Cut Scott Wells

Obviously, we would have to replace 3 starting offensive linemen. My question is, how much in salary do we save from cutting Long and Wells, and does anyone know what UFA are out in the open market this offseason?

Interested in others' thoughts...

 

[lockdnram21]

Let Joseph walk
Don't Resign Barksdale he's been exposed
Cutting wells
Cut long
Sign center and RT in Free agency
Draft Guard

 

[jrry32]

1. Re-sign Joe Barksdale to an affordable deal
2. Sign Clint Boling in FA
3. Draft an OG or an OT on Day 1 or 2
4. Draft an OL on Day 3(at least one)

 

[Rams and Gators]

First thing cut Long, cut Wells.

Depends how much we can re-sign Barksdale for, if cheap enough bring him back for continuity purposes alone, sign either a top quality OG or OC then draft whatever's left over. If he isn't cheap then put more money towards a better OG/OC/RT.

 

[ausmurp]

From what I understand we would save over $10M in cap by cutting/not resigning Long, Wells, and Joseph. Add in cutting/resigning Bradford because there is no way we pay him $16M, and we save another $10M there. So with those moves alone we ADD approx. $20M in cap space...

I would only resign Bark if he will take less than $3M a yr.

There are a ton good to decent potential FAs who could make our team better. We could target a few of the following if they go unsigned (no way all of them do):

WR Randall Cobb GB 25: All signs point to the Pack unable to retain him which is why they drafted Devonte Adams. If he hits FA I say we go HAM at him and if we get him I say we trade Tavon for a 2nd or 3rd rd pick if we can. Cobb and Britt will be a very good WR combo for any QB we bring in.
T Gabe Carimi ATL 27: Resurrection project.
T Chris Hairston BUF 26: Better than Barks and their OL played out of this world this yr.
T Doug Free DAL 31: Played very well this yr and I questioned last yr why we didn't target him in FA.
T Bryan Bulaga GB 26
G Orlando Franklin DEN 28: Peyton was sacked 16 times wow.
G James Carpenter SEA 26
G Mike Iupati SF 28
G Will Rackley BAL 26: OL played great this yr.
G Jah Reid BAL 27: ...
C Will Montgomery DEN 32: Again Peyton was sacked 16 times wow.
C Stefen Wisniewski OAK 26
4-3 OLB Malcolm Smith SEA 26: IFF they don't resign we have to go after him. His coverage skills and speed are better than Ogletree and he and Ogle would make a good OLB duo. I'm still all for moving Ogle to MLB where he played in college. JL is getting slower every yr but he did play well at the end.
ILB Rolando McClain DAL 26: JL replacement, is playing up to his top 10 draft expectation now. If he has the drive to play at that level he is better way better than JL.
CB Byron Maxwell SEA 27: SEA is in trouble, Smith and Maxwell are two very underrated young talents and if either hit FA we need to go after them as they're better than anything we have at those positions.
S Louis Delmas MIA 28: Played out of this world in the first 12 games of the season. Another player I wanted to sign last yr in FA.
S Devin McCourty NE 28: A good cover safety like Delmas.

 

[LetsGoRams]

I never thought of Cobb. He'd look great in horns, but he won't be cheap.

Out of that list, my top 3 would be:

1. Wisniewski
2. Carpenter
3. McClain

If we don't retain Barksdale, I'd love Hairston.

 

[PhillyRam]

Whatever they do, they have to build a line that can protect Bradford by establishing the run as well as pass blocking and or do those same things if we end up with a stop-gap type for now.

Fact is they have to approach this as if they have to be able to win with a mediocre type QB next year and you can do that with a great OL and running game as long as their D plays to their press clippings.

 

[TheDYVKX]

From what I understand we would save over $10M in cap by cutting/not resigning Long, Wells, and Joseph. Add in cutting/resigning Bradford because there is no way we pay him $16M, and we save another $10M there. So with those moves alone we ADD approx. $20M in cap space...

I would only resign Bark if he will take less than $3M a yr.

There are a ton good to decent potential FAs who could make our team better. We could target a few of the following if they go unsigned (no way all of them do):

WR Randall Cobb GB 25: All signs point to the Pack unable to retain him which is why they drafted Devonte Adams. If he hits FA I say we go HAM at him and if we get him I say we trade Tavon for a 2nd or 3rd rd pick if we can. Cobb and Britt will be a very good WR combo for any QB we bring in.
T Gabe Carimi ATL 27: Resurrection project.
T Chris Hairston BUF 26: Better than Barks and their OL played out of this world this yr.
T Doug Free DAL 31: Played very well this yr and I questioned last yr why we didn't target him in FA.
T Bryan Bulaga GB 26
G Orlando Franklin DEN 28: Peyton was sacked 16 times wow.
G James Carpenter SEA 26
G Mike Iupati SF 28
G Will Rackley BAL 26: OL played great this yr.
G Jah Reid BAL 27: ...
C Will Montgomery DEN 32: Again Peyton was sacked 16 times wow.
C Stefen Wisniewski OAK 26
4-3 OLB Malcolm Smith SEA 26: IFF they don't resign we have to go after him. His coverage skills and speed are better than Ogletree and he and Ogle would make a good OLB duo. I'm still all for moving Ogle to MLB where he played in college. JL is getting slower every yr but he did play well at the end.
ILB Rolando McClain DAL 26: JL replacement, is playing up to his top 10 draft expectation now. If he has the drive to play at that level he is better way better than JL.
CB Byron Maxwell SEA 27: SEA is in trouble, Smith and Maxwell are two very underrated young talents and if either hit FA we need to go after them as they're better than anything we have at those positions.
S Louis Delmas MIA 28: Played out of this world in the first 12 games of the season. Another player I wanted to sign last yr in FA.
S Devin McCourty NE 28: A good cover safety like Delmas.

Too bad Devin McCourty is only just a dream, he's a top 2 FS in the entire NFL, he's going to get around $10M a year. We can't afford that.

 

[Merlin]

Obviously re-signing Barks is likely since he wants to return, and I am sure the Rams want him back. It also gives the Rams 3/5 positions solidified going forward.

From there... I want Iupati. He has been an enormous part of that very good SF offensive line and their success. I loved him coming out of college after I saw that vid of him one-punching the blitzer to the ground, the dude is legit and signing him hurts a division rival. If not him there are plenty of other opportunities though so I think bringing back Barks plus one interior OL type FA will solidify this unit.

Rams can easily find OG at that point in the draft to compete with holdovers like Jones and Person if they bring him back on the cheap.

 

[ZigZagRam]

1. Cut Jake Long
2. Cut Scott Wells

These two cuts alone should free up enough cap space to:

3. Re-sign Barksdale
4. Sign Orlando Franklin
5. Sign Brian De La Puente

Keep building:

6. Draft at least 1 OL in rounds 1-2
7. Draft another OL in rounds 3-7.
8. Have an open competition at center between De La Puente, Jones, and Rhaney.

Starting OL in 2015: Robinson-Franklin-De La Puente/Jones-Saffold-Barksdale

 

[ZigZagRam]

G Will Rackley BAL 26: OL played great this yr.

Rackley didn't play a single snap this year.