Our 2021 UFA Class: Who stays and who goes?

[PhillyRam]

Hill is a solid 3rd corner.
We've watched him improve over the past year and a half and he is someone I would like to keep around. He'd probably be much cheaper than JJ. Decent CBs are also harder to replace than safeties. At least with Snead drafting.

Id like to Keep Blythe and Hill. Solid players who greatly improve our depth at a reasonable cost.
Both seem to be fairly durable as well.

Hill will be overpaid because corners are valued. As nice as it would be to keep him, he likely gets $7-8M a yr min even in a Covid depressed market.

 

[oldnotdead]

For those that think the Rams won't extend Floyd, I offer this. It's the reason I've been saying all along he will be extended, only the amount needs to be determined dependent upon his play this year.

From Spotrac:
Leonard Floyd signed a 1 year, $10,000,000 contract with the Los Angeles Rams, including a $5,000,000 signing bonus, $10,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $10,000,000. In 2020, Floyd will earn a base salary of $5,000,000 and a signing bonus of $5,000,000, while carrying a cap hit of $6,666,666 and a dead cap value of $10,000,000.

Why would they structure a one year deal with a dead cap of $10M if they weren't committed to re-signing him? They know it will be in access of $10M overall. That is simply the starting point.

 

[Dz1]

Sorry I just might be .
Really Really confused. .

DW is the only the only guy we can resign the rest Free to go wherever. lol

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Yes I am for locking down Darious Williams for 2021 as our starting corner too.

OC situation has been interesting to watch since 2018.......It's not been a bad watch. Austin Blythe always seems to be out as the Rams center every season but keeps on rising back up. I don't disagree with you on Blythe's power & strength as we have discussed many times in the past ......it's not good, he is weak & dinky. However, he has proven to check most all the other boxes in what Kromer wants from his OC. He still is the centerpiece of Kromer's OL. Question ...If the Rams were not pleased with OC Coleman Shelton as a possible starting center then why did they not draft an OC in 2020? There were many opportunities!

On top of having OC Shelton in reserve lined up for 2021 Rams have kept the injured bad knee OC Brian Allen who started 9 gms in 2019 still active on the roster. If that was not enough Kromer has a very strong but slow OC Jeremiah Kolone stashed on the PS for the 3rd yr. Total 4 OC's.

In early 2021 Rams will sign PS OC Jeremiah Kolone. They will offer a tender to RFA OC Shelton for 2021 season. He is 6-5/300 plus LBs who's the only real issue is lack of power & strength. But Shelton has plenty of smarts & gifted technically. Rams will offer UFA Blythe a 2 yr contract with a moderate pay raise. They will keep OC Brian Allen on their 2021 roster. Giving them four OC prospects on the roster.

Keeping Allen is mostly what puts me in doubt of all Rams centers after Blythe. We've all seen him play. He was very bad. So that would mean Kolone is likely worse. And again Shelton being second string behind Blythe does not give me much confidence that he's the answer either. But as you suggest, they could be totally fine with Blythe and want him back. I see him as the weakest link right now. He's not good in either run blocking or pass blocking. The Rams brought Noteboom back at Guard and we all scratched our heads at that decision. So who knows? Its also possible that outside of Ruiz, they didn't like any of the Centers in the draft, for their scheme.

 

[BonifayRam]

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend Elmgrovegnome & appreciations for giving my post a good read.

Keeping Allen is mostly what puts me in doubt of all Ram's centers after Blythe. We've all seen him play. He was very bad.

Not sure if Brian Allen has any relationship to the abilities of any of the other Rams OC prospects. Here's how see it...Allen is playing on his rookie low-cost $ contract. He has continued to struggle with a lingering damaged knee from the 2019 game 9 injury. Currently, BA he is has been limited in practice all season & yet to dress for any games. He is on the master roster as our 9th interior OL'er.

I have agreed with you that his first 8 full gms starts were bad. But I have full knowledge of the fact that BA was given a deplorable awful hand by Kromer in 2019. I would suggest you go back & look who started next to him in those starts.

Initially, he had Noteboom & Blythe on both sides of him @ OG....It was Noteboom's first NFL start plus it was @ OG!. Today you & I fully know that Noteboom can not play in the NFL as a OG. Look who was beside BA on his right....dinky weak Blythe. Blythe gets injured @ the beginning of the 2nd gm. & look who comes in to save the day...Demby for basically 1 3/4 gms. Demby is repulsive @ playing OG. I have no idea why he is even signed to the PS but he is still lurking there.

Noteboom who only complete 5 inadequate gms @ LG, when Noteboom destroyed his knee in gm #6. It was Demby who replaced Noteboom. Meanwhile, the injured Blythe with a high ankle sprain returned gimpy to play RG he was no better than Noteboom & not much better than Demby. Those were the OG's that Kromer assigned to help BA. A fully healthy BA just might be a much better performing OC with Corbett & Edwards playing next to him. That's what I believe & that be what Kromer is thinking too.

So that would mean Kolone is likely worse.

PS Jeremiah Kolone is an emergency reserve interior @ this point in his 3 yr career nothing more. He is capable of getting through a game based on his power alone but has no foot movement. But he can move a NT if the Rams were to deploy a power running scheme.

And again Shelton being second string behind Blythe does not give me much confidence that he's the answer either.

None of us has seen much of Coleman Shelton. He did not arrive here in LA on 9/3/19 until the end of the preseason. In 2018 CS entered the draft & went UDFA & signed with the 9ers. CS was cut after the 2018 season began & AZ picked him up & signed to the PS for the entire 2018 regular season. CS was resigned by the AZ for the 2019 season. CS was employed by AZ for all of the 2019 TC & preseason. AZ signed him to their 2019 PS until the Rams signed him off to the master roster on 9/3/19. Shelton was active for all 16 gms reg. season. All I can determine is CS @ 6-5 over 300 lbs is a perfect interior OL'er for the outside running scheme normally deployed by McVay. CS remains an unknown OL'er to me other than Kromer must have faith in him.

....But as you suggest, they could be totally fine with Blythe and want him back. I see him as the weakest link right now. He's not good in either run blocking or pass blocking. The Rams brought Noteboom back at Guard and we all scratched our heads at that decision. So who knows? It's also possible that outside of Ruiz, they didn't like any of the Centers in the draft, for their scheme.

Let me state this fact before I get into Austin Blythe......There is a severe deficiency of sound performing smart healthy OL'ers at all times in the NFL. Present-day NCAA College teams are graduating & sending raw/ undone/ undeveloped OL'ers into the NFL draft. There are very few OL prospects who can come in the NFL & start effectively & those usually all go in the first round. Teams are now fighting the time element to get OL prospects to have an impact in their first 4 yr contract. Normally requiring 2 to 3 full seasons just to get them prepared to play soundly in the NFL. Why do you think they lets all those OL'ers hold Donald all day & all night?

NFL teams pay big salaries for complete healthy OL'ers. I would include Austin Blythe in that 1st sentence description. Rams were fortunate to have signed AB @ the very low $$$ contract they did. It's my strong opinion AB now has built-in value for almost all NFL teams who run mostly the Outside Running Zone Scheme. AB being only 28 in his 5th season with 65 NFL gms worth of experience, 3,131 snaps & 30 starts (@ four NFL OL positions) plus being a starter for 3 seasons....... AB will earn a new much larger contract in March of 2021 either as a Ram or somewhere else.

NOTE: OL'er David Bakhtiari signed a 4 year, $92,000,000 contract with the Green Bay Packers, including a $30,000,000 signing bonus, $61,500,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $23,000,000.

OC Matt Skura will be a UFA like Blythe Spotrac states his market value as a UFA in March is $10 million annually his PFF grade is 51.5. Blythe's is now up to 69.9 PFF grade????
Matt Skura Contract Breakdowns, Salary Cap Figures, Salaries, Bonuses | Spotrac
Matt Skura | Baltimore Ravens C | NFL and PFF stats | PFF

Rams better be prepared to pay up for Blythe. I would also suggest they sign FA Coleman Shelton early just in case. Rams need to be smart & get Brian Allen's knee fixed this off-season for his final season under his 2017 rookie contract in 2021. In addition that 7th rd Tremayne Anchrum 6-1 7/8 316 lbs OL'er sure would be an excellent prospect to be groomed as a center too. Finally, let's hope Snead can finally find an OC that is "Blythe like" but with more power & strength in this upcoming draft.

 

[So Ram]

I honestly have no idea who they're going to keep. Or even try hardest to keep. It could go so many ways that maybe it'll come down to who (if any) really wants to return and takes a little less money.

I do think they roll the dice on Williams by tendering him high (and knowing another team will sign him away) but who knows they might be trying to ink him right now. Whatever happens I do think teams are going to be all over our FAs. Someone may even pay Hill some good money and get us a comp pick.

Lol all you want. Truth will show that The Rams FO made excellent picks 2017 McVays first draft without even a 1st. Rd pick & a mid/2nd rd pick which they trade to get JJ43 for free & Gerald Everett will bring a nice Comp pick.
It also shows how well The Rams develop players. David Long will be set to play CB in 2021.

 

[dieterbrock]

Why would they structure a one year deal with a dead cap of $10M if they weren't committed to re-signing him? They know it will be in access of $10M overall. That is simply the starting point

Not understanding your point. He signed for 10 mill guaranteed.
on a 1 year deal there’s no way to minimize the cap hit

 

[BonifayRam]

It’s hard to imagine how the Rams will be able to afford to keep John Johnson
Why the Rams won’t be able to afford to keep John Johnson - Turf Show Times
He’s a valuable player on a top-three defense who will be a 25-year-old free agent in March
By Kenneth Arthur@KennethArthuRS Dec 15, 2020,

Rams safety John Johnson has maintained a high level of play throughout his career and other than 2019, has not missed any games with injury. Johnson, who turns 25 on Saturday, leads the LA defense with 88 tackles (20 more than Troy Hill in second place) and he’s added eight passes defensed; as of Week 15, Johnson has not been blamed for any touchdowns allowed so far this season.

A third round pick out of BC in 2017, Johnson will be a free agent in March.

The top-five safeties in average annual salary all make between $14 million and $14.75 million per season. Landon Collins, Tyrann Mathieu and Kevin Byard all signed their deals in 2019, while Eddie Jackson and Budda Baker were paid on extensions in the 2020 offseason. Two other safeties, Anthony Harris and Justin Simmons, are making $11.4 million on the franchise tag this year.

Harris is 29 and Simmons is 27. Collins was 25 when he hit free agency in 2019 and he signed a six-year, $84 million deal with Washington.

It would stand to reason that anybody who wanted Johnson to remain with the Rams would also admit that Johnson is as good or better than most of these safeties mentioned. Therefore, it would be illogical to argue for re-signing Johnson but against him being worth at least $14 million per year on a new deal or $12 million per year on a franchise tag.

Nobody knows what the 2021 salary cap will be but the Rams have committed the eighth-most money in the league to the 2021 roster. It is likely that if there is a salary cap next year, LA will be at least as hampered in making moves in the offseason as they were in 2020.

Extensions for Cooper Kupp and Jalen Ramsey made it even harder to anticipate maneuvering and the retention of the Rams best free agents next year, which also includes Austin Blythe, Gerald Everett, Leonard Floyd, Troy Hill, Josh Reynolds and restricted free agent Darious Williams.

The Rams could save $7 million if they release Andrew Whitworth with a post-June 1 designation; $6.5 million if they do the same with Tyler Higbee; but unless they also want to part with Rob Havenstein or Michael Brockers, there aren’t many other places they can go to for savings. “Re-negotiating” with Jared Goff would only mean paying Goff more guaranteed money and increasing his cap hit in future seasons.

It also wouldn’t necessarily be enough to re-sign Johnson.

Of course, as long as it is not a franchise tag, a first-year cap hit for Johnson may only be between $3.5-$5 million. Then in 2022, he could cost as much as $17 million (Byard’s second year) or eventually $20 million (Mathieu’s third year) down the line. Gotta get that average up, right?

The LA Rams know they have a starting safety in rookie Jordan Fuller. They also drafted Terrell Burgess in round three and were high on his potential after training camp and through his few snaps on defense in the regular season prior to injury. The Rams also get two more years of Taylor Rapp, for whatever that’s worth, and have held onto Juju Hughes. It would appear that agree or disagree, Les Snead and Sean McVay have been prepared for Johnson’s departure.

The only way for the Rams to guarantee Johnson stays is to give him the franchise tag, which they don’t seem financially capable of doing. If Johnson is allowed to talk to other teams though, it could be difficult for LA to match his best offer; What if Brandon Staley gets a head coaching job with the Jets or Jaguars (the two teams with the most cap space) and wants to bring his on-field signal-caller with him? What if Bill Belichick is interested, given the Patriots cap space, Devin McCourty’s age and the need for safety help in New England? Clearly it is a position that Belichick has valued for a long time.

The Rams wouldn’t be able to compete financially and they would also have suitors for Johnson who could offer him a chance to continue winning.

I am sure that keeping Johnson is something that the Rams would love to do, but I’ve yet to see a reasonable argument for how they could.

 

[BonifayRam]

How do the Rams Org overcome the below:

2021 Rams Cap Space (w/Top 51)

$-17,770,904

Thats a - Negative indicator right?
Los Angeles Rams 2021 Salary Cap Table | Spotrac