5 St. Louis Rams Who Shouldn’t Be Back In 2014

[BonifayRam]

The Scott Wells decision should be a very easy release when you consider #1- cap savings 4.5 million.

#2-Fact Rams have a easy signing ERFA Tim Barnes who is entering his 4th NFL season. So he has has 3 full yrs as a Ram 1 season on the PS & 2 seasons under Boudreau guidance on the master playing roster. In 2013 TC & Pre Season Barnes played OC/OLG/ORG showing he can play the interior OL if needed. Barnes has played in 31 NFL games with 4 starts in relief of SW 6-2 300 pounder whereas Barnes is a good sized center @ 6-4 308 pounds.

#3- The Rams also have highly decorated & awarded Barrett Jones as Tim Barnes Relief. Jones like Barnes has the the ability to play any of the interior positions @ 6-5 307 pounds but Jones has OLT/ORT Bama experience. Jones won the Rimington Trophy playing center in 2012 & the Outland Trophy playing OT in 2011. Looks to me the center position is just fine without Wells.

 

[Alan]

I think Jones needs to show something in the NFL before we say he's the answer anywhere. But I agree with your post for the most part.

 

[BonifayRam]

I think he's gonna be a cap casualty. Think about it. He was never put on IR, but when he was able to play, he never got his starting spot again. Not even over Chris Williams.

This was telling was it not. Think on that. The Rams OG's who got the call over Dahl @ OG in that last game were Brandon Washington-Shelley Smith & Chris Williams. WOW! I really have enjoyed watching Harvey Dahl since his arrival. I love the way he plays the game with PASSION. But here are the facts in considering the release of Harvey Dahl & securing 4 Million in cap funds.

Shelley Smith took Harvey Dahl's starting post late last yr too. Shelley has been a Ram now for 1 1/2 seasons has played in 25 games & started 8 games @ OLG/ORG for injured starters. Shelley was an ex Ram when he was drafted in the 6th round by the Texans in 2010 but Shelley was a WWC early in 2012 from the Texans when he became a STL Ram he was a small OG 6-4 297 who's game was zone blocking on the move...the Rams were starting Ojinnaka @ OLG. Shelley came in and provided relief from Ojinnaka I will be forever thankful to Shelley for that. The 27 yr old Shelley has remained fully healthy whereas Harvey Dahl has been unhealthy since he was IR'd back in 2012 season. Harvey Dahl was injured once again in October of 2013 this time a MCL sprain. Shelley Smith came in @ ORG then for Dahl. Wk 9 Shelley Smith started for Dahl. Then in wk 10 Saffold started for Dahl @ ORG & for the first time the OL became a powerful force. Dahl was inactive until Boudreau started Dahl in week 15 with Rodger Saffold in a 1st quarter rotation Dahl's play was dismal & totally ineffective & after that first quarter he was never on the field again the rest of the season.

I would have no heartburn if they brought Dahl back much later @ the bottom cost rate if they have a rash of injuries to the right side OL'ers. but now is the time to build a youthful talented power OL.

 

[Alan]

flv, post: 248405 forgetting the other variables:
We are $2M under the projected cap for 2014 with our top 51 contracts. Assuming we release Finnegan and Dahl we will be more than $10M under the cap. That's enough space to sign any projected FA management wants. Wells is on an option contract. I agree that he shouldn't be kept at $5.5M but we can keep him until September without paying him anything. Since keeping him costs nothing for now and releasing him gains nothing for now the question is: Why cut him now? We can cut him later if and when we need to.

You're forgetting the huge CAP increases of some of our vets due in 2014 that more than compensates for the savings of just those two players. We're going to have to find a lot more savings than just those two.

 

[iced]

Been saying this for a while now;

Cut Finnegan, wells, dhal
Sign saffold
Dradt two guards in the second round and let them battle it out for the starting spot.

or just a guard works too in the 2nd..

 

[Alan]

No offense flv but do you realize that those are the 2013 CAP hits?

That site is hard for me to navigate but here's what I'd do if I could see better.
Write down the CAP hits for our top 10 players (CAP hit wise) and then find the 2014 CAP figures and compare the totals. Then let me know what you find if you would.

 

[Alan]

Player Cap Figure 2014 - 2013
Sam Bradford 17,610,000 - 12,595,000 = +5,015,000
Chris Long 14,700,000 - 8,750,000 = + 5,950,000
James Laurinaitis 10,400,000 - 12,400,000 = -2,000,000
Cortland Finnegan 10,000,000 - 10,400,000 = -400,000
Jake Long 9,250,000 - 4,250,000 = +5,000,000
Jared Cook 7,000,000 - 4,000,000 = +3,000,000
Scott Wells 6,500,000 - 6,500,000 = 0
Kendall Langford 6,000,000 - 6,000,000 = 0
Harvey Dahl 4,000,000 - 2,750,000 = +1,250,000
William Hayes 3,845,000 - 2,050,000 = +1,840,000
Robert Quinn 3,002,390 - 3,002,390 = 0
Tavon Austin 2,897,955 - 2,318,364 = +579,591
Michael Brockers 2,596,908 - 2,164,090 = +432,818
Alec Ogletree 1,597,735 - 1,278,188 = +319,547

So all those pink ones are increases (23,386,956). Plus we need money for signing our draftees and a cushion. From this you can get a good idea who we'd need to cut.

EDIT: Sorry, I did Dahl's and Tavon's wrong. It should have been pink. So it's a little worse. Around $23 million (plus the draftee salaries and cushion probably totalling about $10 million minus JL's CAP decrease of $2 million) in the hole before we cut anyone.

EDIT 2: Sorry, my daughter was manning the calculator. Messed up the SB total. Another $400,000 in the hole. I fixed the other posts to reflect that.

 

[Alan]

Cut Dahl, Finn, Wells and we save $20.5 million. Only $11 million left to find by my calculations. You probably should check my math.

EDIT: Forgot to subtract JL's CAP decrease which brought it down to 11. Unless I screwed something else up too.

 

[laramsoriginal]

Thanks for doing the work on the cap, awesome.

No reason to bring back Finnegan, dhal, wells at those crazy prices.

Use the money to sign Saffold. Draft two guards in the second round and let them battle it our for the starting LG position. Start B.Jones at center. After trading out of the second pick, select the best CB then even trade out the 13th pick then select the best safety available.

If the rams can plug the hole at Guard and add depth on the OL via draft, this rams team should be good

 

[Alan]

The CAP is supposed to go up a little this year ($3 million?) but we're still more than $5.4 million in the hole if we forget about the injury cushion.. Can't sign anyone before we get into positive territory.

 

[Ky Ram]

Didn't see any numbers for Stewart but I don't think his contract is all that high. He's one I'd keep.

 

[Alan]

He's a UFA. His CAP hit last year was $1 million so there's probably a good chance we won't re-sign him..

 

[fearsomefour]

The Scott Wells decision should be a very easy release when you consider #1- cap savings 4.5 million.

#2-Fact Rams have a easy signing ERFA Tim Barnes who is entering his 4th NFL season. So he has has 3 full yrs as a Ram 1 season on the PS & 2 seasons under Boudreau guidance on the master playing roster. In 2013 TC & Pre Season Barnes played OC/OLG/ORG showing he can play the interior OL if needed. Barnes has played in 31 NFL games with 4 starts in relief of SW 6-2 300 pounder whereas Barnes is a good sized center @ 6-4 308 pounds.

#3- The Rams also have highly decorated & awarded Barrett Jones as Tim Barnes Relief. Jones like Barnes has the the ability to play any of the interior positions @ 6-5 307 pounds but Jones has OLT/ORT Bama experience. Jones won the Rimington Trophy playing center in 2012 & the Outland Trophy playing OT in 2011. Looks to me the center position is just fine without Wells.

Wells making $4.5 is not out of line with his history as a player. Is he worth $4.5 now is only one question that has to be asked. The other question is are we comfortable handing the starting C job to Barnes with 4 starts? Im not saying I am against it, but, I dont think Barnes offers an upgrade at this point....of course if things are even or close to even then of course saving the money makes sense. C is a generally unvalued position but an important one. Barnes was good in pass and ok in run. He is a solid player but thats it at this point. I think he could improve while Wells is clearly on the backside of his career. So, it really comes down to what the coaches see as level of play vs pay.
Jones has proven nothing with the Rams. He was injured and has not gotten any experience (meaninful anyway) during in season play with the Rams. Could he end up being a starter? Sure. No fan knows where he is now in his development and no one but the coaches know their opinion of him. At this point is there much of a difference between Jones stepping in and a rookie....who knows? Can either Barnes or Jones be counted on as a quality long term starter at this point? Who knows?
I think Dahl would be released before Wells.

 

[Alan]

fearsomefour chiming in:
The other question is are we comfortable handing the starting C job to Barnes with 4 starts? Im not saying I am against it, but, I dont think Barnes offers an upgrade at this point....of course if things are even or close to even then of course saving the money makes sense.

Wells didn't play well last year even when he wasn't injured. He was just OK most of the time. With some bad games and some good games in addition to the average ones. With Barnes we can at least hope he'll stay healthy for the whole year. Wouldn't it be nice to have an O-liner who stayed healthy all year? Look how well that turned out with Barksdale.

 

[BonifayRam]

Wells didn't play well last year even when he wasn't injured.

I read several times now that Wells grades out down in the last third of the starting centers when he went down. I thought he play so much better in 2013 than in 2012 however two back to back IR season & he is 33 yrs old now. Does RODville expect that after four surgeries & almost constant state of rehabb the last two years expect that he will get better?

He was just OK most of the time. With some bad games and some good games in addition to the average ones.

Sounds like your describing Barksdale to me but Barksdale is young no injury history period & cost about 20% of what we are paying Wells.


With Barnes we can at least hope he'll stay healthy for the whole year. Wouldn't it be nice to have an O-liner who stayed healthy all year? Look how well that turned out with Barksdale.

The OL once again yr after yr have multiple more Ram injuries than any other unit.

I would prefer that the Rams take the cap cash from the releasing of CF, Dahl & Wells & let Snead see what he can sign some healthier younger OL'ers in UFA.

 

[BonifayRam]

Wells making $4.5 is not out of line with his history as a player. Is he worth $4.5 now is only one question that has to be asked. The other question is are we comfortable handing the starting C job to Barnes with 4 starts? Im not saying I am against it, but, I dont think Barnes offers an upgrade at this point....of course if things are even or close to even then of course saving the money makes sense. C is a generally unvalued position but an important one. Barnes was good in pass and ok in run. He is a solid player but thats it at this point. I think he could improve while Wells is clearly on the backside of his career. So, it really comes down to what the coaches see as level of play vs pay.
Jones has proven nothing with the Rams. He was injured and has not gotten any experience (meaninful anyway) during in season play with the Rams. Could he end up being a starter? Sure. No fan knows where he is now in his development and no one but the coaches know their opinion of him. At this point is there much of a difference between Jones stepping in and a rookie....who knows? Can either Barnes or Jones be counted on as a quality long term starter at this point? Who knows?
I think Dahl would be released before Wells.

Here's a case for keeping Scott Wells & it contains some guessing here. If Boudreau has the opinion that Barrett Jones & Tim Barnes have potential to be healthy youthful interior starters in 2014. When I say interior starters I mean both OG posts & Center. Since it's been brought out that Wells could be retained until the last of the pre-season cutdowns to the master 53 roster. Boudreau may go with theses three centers & go into TC & Pre season working Barnes @ OLG & Jones @ ORG to see if they are legit potential starters in these vacant positions. Both TB & BJ know the OL calls & they would help settle down the new drafted rookies.

They will be in TC without & pre season without starting OLT & both OG positions. Having all three Wells-Barnes & Jones including Brandon Washington will assist greatly in this unsettled OL. Rams must find a OLT & a swing OT plus several legit talented OG's to mix in. Keeping a veteran like SW would make good sense in this case.

 

[Alan]

BonifayRam with his plan:
I would prefer that the Rams take the cap cash from the releasing of CF, Dahl & Wells & let Snead see what he can sign some healthier younger OL'ers in UFA.

Those thoughts mirror mine. I'd only add that I'm hoping that Snead doesn't just address the O-line but address it in a very serious way. I'd like the O-line to not be on our radar in the next draft. At least not as a priority.