Ram Thoughts From the East Coast

[Boston Ram]

Free Agency is off and silly money as always is being handed out. I think our Rams have been pretty responsible thus far. Hard not to be excited about the additions of Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib. The addition of NRC is huge also. You add the best slot corner with 2 of the top outside corners and yes, you have the best set of corners in the NFL. Not afraid to come out and say it. Also when you consider 58% of defenses played are sub packages, makes the NRC even that more valuable. Sully is back on a nice deal also. So now what? What moves do they make? I would like to see them add a TE. Ebron would be worth a look, maybe Martellus Bennett for a year? After losing Sammy, TE seems like a logical and cheaper way to shore up the receiving core. I like what I seen from Everett but is he ready for a full load? Even so, the Rams need another piece. Higbee is not the answer IMO. So the question remains are they going for it or what? This leads me to Aaron Donald.

What is going on with Aaron Donald: So I for one do NOT think a deal is happening this year. Joe Banner on NFL radio made some great point and to me might be the main reason this deal is not and should not happen. Most deals this year are 3 year deals. Bare with me here. Over the years deals have had "outs" or guarantees that are paid out by year 3, essentially making any contact after year 3 worthless and bad for the player. For example if player X signs for 5 years, 50M. AV/year 10M. At year 4 team can release player and save 10M on cap as guarantee has been paid. If player is still good, he is playing for whatever said salary is which typically is like 3-5M that year. So the team has all the leverage. According to Banner, players have smartened up and are now asking for shorter deals....like 3 years. Then they can become Free agents again and have another shot at the guaranteed money again. So instead of getting the 1 contact after the rookie deal, they are setting themselves up to get 2 contacts.
My guess is Donald wants a 3 year deal. He wants mega bucks now even under contract and protects himself against being tagged. The Rams are probably pushing for 5 years, if you are giving up control you better get some come down the road. If Im the Rams, I do nothing as you still have the leverage. By no means should the Rams sign him to a 3 year deal now.......just bad business. This is the only thing that makes sense to me. I think the money is there and the Rams will pay him top dollar, the hold up IMO is years. What do you think?

This leads me to even more questions. If you had to choose 1 of the following 3, who would you choose? Aaron Donald, Jared Goff or Todd Gurley? There is no way all 3 will be signed by the Rams, unless one of them takes a super team friendly deal and even then Im not sure its possible. The Rams need to decide who they are keeping. Not my preference but my guess is Donald will be odd man out. Dont disregard Suh coming in for a visit. If he does signs multi year, my guess is we have 1 year left with Donald. Suh would be more than half the cost of Donald. Not saying this is what I want, but the Rams have to make some extremely tough decisions in the coming years.

But back to the now. I love what we have done so far. I think Littleton will fill in nicely for Tree. I also think the combo of Thomas and Reynolds will ease the sting of losing Watkins. Still want to see a reliable pass catching TE added. The draft is approaching and Harold Landry will look awesome in horns if we can make that happen.

Just some things I have been thinking about.....

 

[NERamsFan]

Free Agency is off and silly money as always is being handed out. I think our Rams have been pretty responsible thus far. Hard not to be excited about the additions of Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib. The addition of NRC is huge also. You add the best slot corner with 2 of the top outside corners and yes, you have the best set of corners in the NFL. Not afraid to come out and say it. Also when you consider 58% of defenses played are sub packages, makes the NRC even that more valuable. Sully is back on a nice deal also. So now what? What moves do they make? I would like to see them add a TE. Ebron would be worth a look, maybe Martellus Bennett for a year? After losing Sammy, TE seems like a logical and cheaper way to shore up the receiving core. I like what I seen from Everett but is he ready for a full load? Even so, the Rams need another piece. Higbee is not the answer IMO. So the question remains are they going for it or what? This leads me to Aaron Donald.

What is going on with Aaron Donald: So I for one do NOT think a deal is happening this year. Joe Banner on NFL radio made some great point and to me might be the main reason this deal is not and should not happen. Most deals this year are 3 year deals. Bare with me here. Over the years deals have had "outs" or guarantees that are paid out by year 3, essentially making any contact after year 3 worthless and bad for the player. For example if player X signs for 5 years, 50M. AV/year 10M. At year 4 team can release player and save 10M on cap as guarantee has been paid. If player is still good, he is playing for whatever said salary is which typically is like 3-5M that year. So the team has all the leverage. According to Banner, players have smartened up and are now asking for shorter deals....like 3 years. Then they can become Free agents again and have another shot at the guaranteed money again. So instead of getting the 1 contact after the rookie deal, they are setting themselves up to get 2 contacts.
My guess is Donald wants a 3 year deal. He wants mega bucks now even under contract and protects himself against being tagged. The Rams are probably pushing for 5 years, if you are giving up control you better get some come down the road. If Im the Rams, I do nothing as you still have the leverage. By no means should the Rams sign him to a 3 year deal now.......just bad business. This is the only thing that makes sense to me. I think the money is there and the Rams will pay him top dollar, the hold up IMO is years. What do you think?

This leads me to even more questions. If you had to choose 1 of the following 3, who would you choose? Aaron Donald, Jared Goff or Todd Gurley? There is no way all 3 will be signed by the Rams, unless one of them takes a super team friendly deal and even then Im not sure its possible. The Rams need to decide who they are keeping. Not my preference but my guess is Donald will be odd man out. Dont disregard Suh coming in for a visit. If he does signs multi year, my guess is we have 1 year left with Donald. Suh would be more than half the cost of Donald. Not saying this is what I want, but the Rams have to make some extremely tough decisions in the coming years.

But back to the now. I love what we have done so far. I think Littleton will fill in nicely for Tree. I also think the combo of Thomas and Reynolds will ease the sting of losing Watkins. Still want to see a reliable pass catching TE added. The draft is approaching and Harold Landry will look awesome in horns if we can make that happen.

Just some things I have been thinking about.....

All New England-Massachusetts bias aside, excellent post, brotha!!!

 

[Boston Ram]

All New England-Massachusetts bias aside, excellent post, brotha!!!

We got to stick together lol

 

[fearsomefour]

Bennett has been pretty clear about wanting to retire.
Don't forget the signing of Sam Shields also.
Gives fantastic depth.

 

[Merlin]

We are entering a window where things will probably start to leak out wrt what each side wants. That's the critical element in all this.

But when AD knows that the Rams have the resources to option and then tag him for two years, I doubt he's got a problem with a five year deal or maybe more. It isn't realistic for his representation to insist on a three year deal when the Rams do have that leverage; he's gotta offer something above and beyond that in years.

My suspicion, rather, is that it's about the amount of guaranteed money. That's been a big push of late with a lot of agents smellin blood in the water, particularly after Cousins got his guaranteed deal. It's something the NFL has held out on, but the super elite type players are going to function as the vanguard for pushing that stuff.

 

[Ken]

This leads me to even more questions. If you had to choose 1 of the following 3, who would you choose? Aaron Donald, Jared Goff or Todd Gurley? There is no way all 3 will be signed by the Rams, unless one of them takes a super team friendly deal and even then Im not sure its possible.

That's a big assumption on your part. I believe and hope they can sign all 3, and maybe 2-3 more they see as core players. But anything could happen. As the song goes 'the future's not ours to see'. IMO if you could only keep 2 of 3, for me it would be Gurley. Easier to replace his production in some fashion then a franchise QB or generational DT talent.

 

[Boston Ram]

That's a big assumption on your part. I believe and hope they can sign all 3, and maybe 2-3 more they see as core players. But anything could happen. As the song goes 'the future's not ours to see'. IMO if you could only keep 2 of 3, for me it would be Gurley. Easier to replace his production in some fashion then a franchise QB or generational DT talent.

It might be I guess, but Donald and Goff will both likely be over 20M annually. Is there a team that has 2 players taking up that much space? Then add a Gurley extension on top of that at say conservatively 10M. I just dont see how signing all 3 will ever happen. I do agree that if I could only keep 2, then Gurley would probably be the guy.

I have to be honest though, the more I look at it, I dont know if they realistically keep both Donald and Goff, mostly because of timing. I may be wrong but I dont see a team that has 2 players getting paid over 20M per.

I would hate to lose any of the 3 but I cant see an scenario in which Donald and Goff both exist at market value.....there are better cap guys on this site that may have ideas though.

 

[dieterbrock]

Is there a team that has 2 players taking up that much space?

It's a great question, however its somewhat nullified by the increase in CAP each year.
Still and all, I'd love to find who the top 2/3 players are on each team, and compare.
Of course that's why this/next year is kind of the year to win prior to Gurley/Goff extensions

 

[Boston Ram]

It's a great question, however its somewhat nullified by the increase in CAP each year.
Still and all, I'd love to find who the top 2/3 players are on each team, and compare.
Of course that's why this/next year is kind of the year to win prior to Gurley/Goff extensions

Great point, but the cap is not increasing enough to really make it work, especially when you consider that currently no team has done it..Not saying it cant be done, but fact is it hasn't. Again there are better cap guys on this site than me that might see if differently.

 

[dieterbrock]

Great point, but the cap is not increasing enough to really make it work, especially when you consider that currently no team has done it..Not saying it cant be done, but fact is it hasn't. Again there are better cap guys on this site than me that might see if differently.

Basically the question comes down to who is the highest paid non QB, because most teams are paying their QB close to 20 mill.
Suh and Tannehill were on same team, probably the highest paid pair?

 

[Boston Ram]

Basically the question comes down to who is the highest paid non QB, because most teams are paying their QB close to 20 mill.
Suh and Tannehill were on same team, probably the highest paid pair?

Tannehill is only a 8.676M hit this year. It jumps to 26M next year. Look at the Giants for a comp with Manning, JPP, and Olivier Vernon. They are top heavy but have no depth and no mid level players. The other thing to consider is if the team is any good. Both Miami and the Giants suck and Miami cut bait with Suh, likely planning for 2019 and beyond.

 

[dieterbrock]

Tannehill is only a 8.676M hit this year. It jumps to 26M next year. Look at the Giants for a comp with Manning, JPP, and Olivier Vernon. They are top heavy but have no depth and no mid level players. The other thing to consider is if the team is any good. Both Miami and the Giants suck and Miami cut bait with Suh, likely planning for 2019 and beyond.

Giants looked good in 2016 with all those big contracts though.
Losing 4 WR is going to cripple any team

 

[yrba1]

With the precedent of Cousins's contract, I hope the NFL will take into consideration of adjusting how guaranteed money affects the cap rate or at least raise the limit significantly; the NFLPA will revel using it as a leverage in their next negotiations.

 

[Boston Ram]

Giants looked good in 2016 with all those big contracts though.
Losing 4 WR is going to cripple any team

11-5 and a blowout loss in the WC? lol. Agreed, but their cap situation wasnt as bad then either. They had back loaded contracts in 2016 so their cap situation looked ok in 2016, they are paying the price now.

 

[dieterbrock]

11-5 and a blowout loss in the WC? lol. Agreed, but their cap situation wasnt as bad then either. They had back loaded contracts in 2016 so their cap situation looked ok in 2016, they are paying the price now.

They look bad because Eli is done, they sold out for a shot at the big prize.
I think that's where the league is going, other than those pricks in New England, the rest of the teams go up and down, year to year

 

[Boston Ram]

They look bad because Eli is done, they sold out for a shot at the big prize.
I think that's where the league is going, other than those pricks in New England, the rest of the teams go up and down, year to year

Fair enough lol. New England got lucky because Brady never demanded to be paid as the highest paid player and every time his cap hit would get ugly he would rework the deal. Maybe Goff will be like Brady and do team friendly deals to keep his guys, like Gurley and Donald.

 

[LACHAMP46]

If you had to choose 1 of the following 3, who would you choose? Aaron Donald, Jared Goff or Todd Gurley?

At this moment...I have to take the best player....with consistency....and while Gurley is close....Donald has been the best player at his position for his entire time as a Ram.....so...I'd keep him.

 

[FarNorth]

Free Agency is off and silly money as always is being handed out. I think our Rams have been pretty responsible thus far. Hard not to be excited about the additions of Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib. The addition of NRC is huge also. You add the best slot corner with 2 of the top outside corners and yes, you have the best set of corners in the NFL. Not afraid to come out and say it. Also when you consider 58% of defenses played are sub packages, makes the NRC even that more valuable. Sully is back on a nice deal also. So now what? What moves do they make? I would like to see them add a TE. Ebron would be worth a look, maybe Martellus Bennett for a year? After losing Sammy, TE seems like a logical and cheaper way to shore up the receiving core. I like what I seen from Everett but is he ready for a full load? Even so, the Rams need another piece. Higbee is not the answer IMO. So the question remains are they going for it or what? This leads me to Aaron Donald.

What is going on with Aaron Donald: So I for one do NOT think a deal is happening this year. Joe Banner on NFL radio made some great point and to me might be the main reason this deal is not and should not happen. Most deals this year are 3 year deals. Bare with me here. Over the years deals have had "outs" or guarantees that are paid out by year 3, essentially making any contact after year 3 worthless and bad for the player. For example if player X signs for 5 years, 50M. AV/year 10M. At year 4 team can release player and save 10M on cap as guarantee has been paid. If player is still good, he is playing for whatever said salary is which typically is like 3-5M that year. So the team has all the leverage. According to Banner, players have smartened up and are now asking for shorter deals....like 3 years. Then they can become Free agents again and have another shot at the guaranteed money again. So instead of getting the 1 contact after the rookie deal, they are setting themselves up to get 2 contacts.
My guess is Donald wants a 3 year deal. He wants mega bucks now even under contract and protects himself against being tagged. The Rams are probably pushing for 5 years, if you are giving up control you better get some come down the road. If Im the Rams, I do nothing as you still have the leverage. By no means should the Rams sign him to a 3 year deal now.......just bad business. This is the only thing that makes sense to me. I think the money is there and the Rams will pay him top dollar, the hold up IMO is years. What do you think?

This leads me to even more questions. If you had to choose 1 of the following 3, who would you choose? Aaron Donald, Jared Goff or Todd Gurley? There is no way all 3 will be signed by the Rams, unless one of them takes a super team friendly deal and even then Im not sure its possible. The Rams need to decide who they are keeping. Not my preference but my guess is Donald will be odd man out. Dont disregard Suh coming in for a visit. If he does signs multi year, my guess is we have 1 year left with Donald. Suh would be more than half the cost of Donald. Not saying this is what I want, but the Rams have to make some extremely tough decisions in the coming years.

But back to the now. I love what we have done so far. I think Littleton will fill in nicely for Tree. I also think the combo of Thomas and Reynolds will ease the sting of losing Watkins. Still want to see a reliable pass catching TE added. The draft is approaching and Harold Landry will look awesome in horns if we can make that happen.

Just some things I have been thinking about.....

It’s impossible to know about substantive issues, but I think the timing may be due to the Rams seeing what dollars they need for free agency this year in order to know how they can structure the deal. This is supported by Snead saying they have an understanding on the timeline to reach agreement.

 

[dieterbrock]

My take "from the east coast" is that we are seeing the "New NFL"
FA will be seeing more and more players signing 3 year contracts with more guaranteed money. And unfortunately, that means you'll see less players sticking with their team. Shame you cant score a team in the draft/trades and hang on to them for a long career.
When the players association fought for a higher share of the revenue, the thought was to help the veteran players. Lol with that...

 

[bubbaramfan]

Where does it end up? Make every player in the NFL a FA at the end of the season, then throw all the names in hat draw up new teams?