Memento
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OFFICIAL 2024 NFL News: Trades, cuts, free agency, and more
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Yeah but McSnead were stupid in letting him go from the trade thread
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One LB that had a heck of a year is Zach Baun in Philly. Will probably get paid a lot, but would be a nice addition as an off ball LB that is good against the run, in coverage, and as a blitzer. Would be a nice vet presence next to Speights, but probably not willing to pay for that position as we have seen.
OntarioRam
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Rozeboom and Speights are getting better every week and, at times, have shown flashes of being a good LB unit. The LB room certainly is no longer a glaring hole being exploited to great effect every single week and losing us games like it was in September and October. Until they stop improving/appear to hit their ceiling, I would avoid spending free agent money at the LB position. Draft capital, sure. But I don't want to risk getting saddled with a bad contract and/or a washed vet, at a none critical position, when what we have in-house continues to be on an upward trajectory.
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If the Rams want to bring-back Rozeboom, they will need to re-sign hime because he will be a free agent. Personally, I am a big fan of Rozeboom's effort; and if he is the third off-ball-LB, and primarily a Special Teams player, OK. However, I consider him to be a below-average NFL starter.
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What I'd do next to Speights is draft a mid to late round SS type who has good box film. Of course I have no idea what Shula prioritizes in that spot, maybe he wants physicality.
All I know is that speed is something we badly need on both sides of the ball. Adding that even at ILB would be helpful I think.
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Letting him go for nothing was surely not their best moveYeah but McSnead were stupid in letting him go from the trade thread
Love where we’re at now but we sure could have used Jones this year
Maybe the question is why the Rams don't do what Philly does and go out and sign some vets to "cheap" "prove it" contracts?
Philly did it this year with:
Baun (now the #1 rated LB in the league) - cap number $1.6mil this year - free agent
Becton (14th of 72 rated G in the league) - cap number $2mil this year - free agent
Barkley (obvious what he's meant) - cap numbers (3.8, 6.3 and 10mil in '24, '25 and '26)
Washington did it with:
Bobby Wagner (2nd rated LB in the league) - cap number $6.5mil this year - free agent
Detroit with:
Kevin Zeitler (2nd rated G in the league) - cap number $6mil this year - free agent
(basically they traded JJ for Zeitler and saved 7.7mil in cap space, oh and got the 2nd rated G while we got the 64th)
Others:
Poona Ford (5th rated DL in the league) - cap number $1.8mil this year - free agent
Calais Campbell (7th rated DL in the league) - cap number $2mil this year - free agent
With the 13.7 cap hit $ the Rams gave Jonah Jackson, they could have signed:
- the #1 rated LB in the league (Baun / 1.6mil)
- the #14 rated G in the league (Becton / 2mil)
- the #8 rated RB in the league (Barkley / 3.8) I know 3 year deal, but 3.8 this year
- the #5 rated DL in the league (Ford / 1.8mil) or - the #7 rated DL in the league (Campbell / 2mil)
- the number 28 rated T in the league (Lucas / 2.8mil) great backup when Havs / AJ are out instead of Boom/ Mc
AND . . .
- the #5 rated TE in the league (Jonnu Smith / 2.1mil)
There are a lot of others . . .
Pupped
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Baun is interesting.. He'd never done anything of note.. and Fangio switched his position and he blew up.
Your Saquon numbers are fake.. he's got a three year 37 million deal that's light on the cap on the first year.
Becton? They already had guards.
The Rams were committed to playing the young guys on the Dline, so I'm not wringing my hands over Calais Campbell.
I don't know.. sometimes it's worth it.. sometimes it works..
In the meantime.. the Rams are getting pro-bowl years out of 6th rounders who make less than most of those guys.
They also developed a UDFA into solid starting Left Tackle.
Developed another UDFA into a solid staring ILB.
Developed another UDFA into a fun contributor on D in Hoecht.
I mean.. for the resources they had a couple of years ago.. to getting where they are now? Impressive, imo.
Are they perfect? Nope.
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We did get something for trading him. Titans got more for sure but Seattle was desperate. And now 3 teams couldn't sign the guy so letting him go after the season would have gotten us nothing cause it sure sounds like he wants a lot of money that I don't see the Rams in recent history being willing to pay.
Elmgrovegnome
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Yes. They need sideline to sideline speed.
Didn’t they do that with Cutl and Jackson? Two year deals aren’t much different from one year deals.
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With the available cap and the benefit of hindsight, the Rams could have killed it. Yet, without the benefit of hindsight, those "prove it" deals are a shot in the dark. We tried one with Tre'Davious White. It didn't pan out. The simple truth is you usually have to pay for quality. Sometimes, you get lucky. Sometimes, you don't. The Rams signed Jonah Jackson because they wanted to build an elite OL. They fortunately nailed the Limmer pick and ended up not needing Jackson. Nobody could have known that when they signed Jackson.
What they didn't know is that the generally reliable and durable Rob Havenstein would struggle with injuries for much of the year. They didn't know that Noteboom, a good swing OT in the past, would play like shit. Hindsight is a valuable thing.
(You also put way too much stock in PFF grades.)
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Well, I have been saying I think Young could move inside and then draft another lankier true speed rushing edge. Young would add speed and power inside next to Speights.
I know second guessing is really easy . . . but I will be for signing vets who have been highly graded by PFF and other teams have let go because they're replacing them with younger guys, if only to "fill in roster" with quality.
Sorry you don't view PFF highly, I do.
You said, "Nobody could have known that when they signed Jackson." - PFF "knew"
Kevin Zeitler - rated highly by PFF every year of his career/a vet G you can count on (6 mil)
Jonah Jackson- not highly rated by PFF in any year (13.7 mil)
Grades this year:
Zeitler - 87.1 (2nd rated G)
JJ - 53.4 (65th rated G)
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The Rams took bigger hits this year so many of those guys can ve let go without a lot of dead cap or at least no additional cap hit to get rid of them.
The Eagles end up with low cap hits by adding void years and if a guy doesn't work out they take a sizable added cap hit the following year.
They held onto James Bradbury this year, sticking him on IR, because if they cut him they would have taken an additional $10M cap hit above his current cap number. That's why they have $65M in dead cap this year due to other back loaded deals in the past.
I like the way Speights and Rozeboom have played in the 2nd half of the season.
I wouldn't invest a lot of money into the position. I suggest we bring back Rozeboom and invest any free agent dollars in CB1, WR, and maybe a vet NT if a decent one is available.
Yeah...I'm not sure what the league was thinking with Zeitler. It's probably because he's up there in age but as you say, he's been highly grade every year.
I was hoping the Rams signed him instead of JJ.
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WoW.
The team purchased roughly 1,900 tickets near the Ford Field visitor's bench on the secondary market, ESPN confirmed Saturday, at roughly $1,000 per ticket -- or just under $2 million in total. The Vikings then offered them to team-based stakeholders at a cost that ranged from $200 to $300 per ticket, ESPN confirmed.
www.espn.com
The team purchased roughly 1,900 tickets near the Ford Field visitor's bench on the secondary market, ESPN confirmed Saturday, at roughly $1,000 per ticket -- or just under $2 million in total. The Vikings then offered them to team-based stakeholders at a cost that ranged from $200 to $300 per ticket, ESPN confirmed.
Vikes buy 1,900 tickets for Ford Field showdown
The Vikings purchased roughly 1,900 tickets for Sunday's winner-take-all NFC North matchup against the Lions, then offered them to team-based stakeholders.
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L-O-L. PFF knew that the Rams would draft a sixth round rookie who would be so effective that he'd relegate a good IOL like Jonah Jackson to the bench? Because that's the actual substance of my quote. And the answer is, no, they did not.
And I'm sure that PFF look like geniuses when you grade their performance using their own grades. "Hey guys, I'm brilliant. How do I know? I asked myself." No, I don't view PFF's grades highly, due to their flawed methodology. They offer other statistics I do find useful.
EDIT: And I'm also not seeing how Zeitler is some magical solution to our problems. First of all, he has spent his entire career playing RG, which is where Dotson plays. Second of all, we had bad injury luck. So I guess best case scenario, he doesn't get injured. But he still ends up backing up Avila when he comes back healthy. That doesn't solve the biggest issues for our OL this year: the injuries, lack of continuity, and terrible OT play whenever Havenstein or Alaric were out. OLs are about the sum of their parts. Zeitler plays between Penei Sewell and Frank Ragnow on an OL that has had a lot of continuity.
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Pupped
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Well, we actually don't "know" anything when it comes to Jackson. He was signed as a guard, moved to center, then hurt.. then they realized they had drafted a real center who was better at *that* position.
But, you're right, Zietler's been great.
The inclusion of Baun, based on your criteria, doesn't fit. He didn't have a track record of being an impactful player.
The Rams have acquired players in recent years who, like Baun, weren't really successful.. who really turned it up as Rams. Kevin Dotson, A'Shawn Robinson, Austin Corbett, Robert Woods.
And... you've picked the successful cases of this... where are the failed "prove it" deal guys? As someone pointed out... Tredavious White wasn't on a big deal.. he fits that kind of shot.
It's great if you do it and hit... but if you're drafting and developing talent well.. that's good too.
Omar Speights is playing very well as a rookie.. costs a quarter of $$ that Baun costs.. and you control him for four years. Baun? He's a free agent and is set to cash in right away... because he did, in fact, prove it.