Dotson and a contract

[PhillyRam]

Are you reading what I'm typing?
The philosophy this off season is going to be different than what we've been accustomed to, that's my point.

I am just saying it is not their doing that they are so called "letting him hit FA". They are not in control of that.

 

[Allen2McVay]

I'd take Hunter at 21 over Dotson at 17 though.

I would too.

Problem is that the highest-paid Edge players have Average Annual Values (AAV) between $23.5M and $34M.

I think Hunter gets more than $21M AAV. Of course, it's all about the guaranteed-$, contract-length and terms.

 

[Londoner]

From where are these rumours emanating?

Has Dotson's agent said anything, or is it just Rams fans getting their knickers in a twist? My money is on the latter.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Do not disagree. However, will there be a high-end Edge or Corner available for a Big-$ deal?

Burns, Josh Allen, Sneed and Jaylon Johnson all figure to be tagged.

Hunter will be available but he will cost more than Dotson.

There's so much that can happen and we haven't and won't get a clear sense of who's getting cut either. Guys like Mack will most likely shake loose along with one or two other vets and Reddick is still out there avail to trade. I actually think there's more options than we think but timelines are all over the place and the only thing we have to go on is Snead saying they're not gonna go hog wild at the start of FA.

Sounds like the goal is let the market set itself for all FA's and then make decisions as opposed to the goal being getting a specific guy.

 

[Ram_Rally]

I would too.

Problem is that the highest-paid Edge players have Average Annual Values (AAV) between $23.5M and $34M.

I think Hunter gets more than $21M AAV. Of course, it's all about the guaranteed-$, contract-length and terms.

True that. I'm hoping his age plays a factor. Don't third contract guys usually get less?

 

[Allen2McVay]

From where are these rumors emanating?

Could be @Loyal. That guy is a real Busy-Body.

 

[WestCoastRam]

I didn't see Dang's post on the list of "open starting positions" but I can't believe there are actually 11 or 12.

LT (unless Alaric is resigned), C (unless Shelton is resigned), RG (unless Dotson is resigned). We have the starting QB, RB, 3 WRs, TE (Allen until Higbee heals). That's 3 on offense, 4 if you count Allen as unproven (I don't). On defense we need a CB, Edge and S. Perhaps ILB. That leaves 7 spots and 2 of those 5 can be settled by resigning 2 or our 3 FA O lineman. So with some fair negotiations, that would mean we need to find 5 in the draft or free agency.... IOL, CB, Edge, S and ILB. They seem to find competent S in the 6th and 7th round (good scouting?). Can they hit on two of those other 4 in the draft and two in free agency? Absolutely. And that's not counting any guys presently on the roster stepping up. Now if they can't sign Alaric and Shelton or Dotson, that may be the beginning of a problem. But unless you haven't been watching the last 7 years, these guys seem to get it done. Over and over and over.

I think you could make the argument that we need starters at each top 3 CB spots. But I think many of us are making assumptions that starters aren't gonna come from 2nd and 3rd year guys continuing to develop.

 

[Merlin]

Hunt: injured a lot
Zeitler: age
Risner: good in pass pro, but less good in the running game.

And they're all older than Dotson as well.

Seems like every time I notice Risner he's being pushed around. I hate that in an interior OL. Those guys you want stout wrestler types who give you a pocket and can win ugly when it's third and 2.

Zeitler I have always respected but yeah he's a bit long in the tooth.

The guy who would have fit nicely among this FA iOL class is the pivot from Miami but he got hurt. So it feels to me like that RG spot is Dotson or bust. Bust in this case being we draft an OL.

And that drafted OL can be a LT with Jackson moving over. It can be a LT project who you play at RG year one. Or it can be an iOL replacement. So they have flexibility depending on how those LT types drop or don't drop for us at the top. Fautanu would be right up their alley I think. His strength is his versatility, projects to possibly play LT but could step right in for us at OG and you figure it out in camp. He may drop to us. Guyton is probably a guy they insert at LT but either way bring in the raw ability then let camp sort it.

Oh and talking iOL you have Powers who pushed everyone around at the Senior Bowl, and also the WVU kid Frazier who has that wrestler background. I figure if we go with one of them it would come with a trade down but maybe they really like one of them.

 

[Rams43]

I keep reading here that the draft class will cost $10-12M.

It is my understanding that in reality it will only impact the cap by $3.8M or so.

So, what’s the real figure?

 

[Merlin]

Frazier highlights. Which is funny to say highlights with a Center but he nasty.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S-EvgywlRA

 

[dang]

I didn't see Dang's post on the list of "open starting positions" but I can't believe there are actually 11 or 12.

LT (unless Alaric is resigned), C (unless Shelton is resigned), RG (unless Dotson is resigned). We have the starting QB, RB, 3 WRs, TE (Allen until Higbee heals). That's 3 on offense, 4 if you count Allen as unproven (I don't). On defense we need a CB, Edge and S. Perhaps ILB. That leaves 7 spots and 2 of those 5 can be settled by resigning 2 or our 3 FA O lineman. So with some fair negotiations, that would mean we need to find 5 in the draft or free agency.... IOL, CB, Edge, S and ILB. They seem to find competent S in the 6th and 7th round (good scouting?). Can they hit on two of those other 4 in the draft and two in free agency? Absolutely. And that's not counting any guys presently on the roster stepping up. Now if they can't sign Alaric and Shelton or Dotson, that may be the beginning of a problem. But unless you haven't been watching the last 7 years, these guys seem to get it done. Over and over and over.

It took me a while to find but here’s the previous post:

I want the best OL possible and Dotson would be a big part of making that happen. However, the Rams have so many needs:

-K -draft? FA?
-LT - resign Ajax? draft?
-OC - Shelton signed
-RG - resign Dotson? Resign Ajax? Draft?
-TE - Allen fills
-WR3 - Robinson signed
-Edge - draft? FA?
-DE - resign Hoecht to fill?
-CB1 - draft? FA?
-CB2 - FA? Draft?
-S - resign Fuller?
-ILB2 - Draft?

Let’s assume they find 3 starters with their 2024 draft picks and 2 starters from rostered players who ascend to starters. That leaves 7 positions that need to be filled thru FA. They appear to have hit on 2 with locking up Shelton and Robinson. And likely another 2 in Ajax (LT or RG) and Hoecht (DE) likely signed. So we need the remaining FA money to cover 5 FA starters (including Ajax and Hoecht). Unless the Rams do some restructure magic I’m prepared for one big fish and 4 medium fish.

Update: I errantly counted Shelton as signed.

 

[Psycho_X]

They really don't though. They have about 40 million in cap right now. About 12 needs to go to the draft class so that's 28 now. If you give Dotson 20 million you're left with 8 million. And I don't think they want to keep pushing the cap down the line. They might restructure Stafford but that's likely it.

Contracts don't work like that though. Just looking at Quentin Nelson as an example his cap number the first two years was approximately $10 and $12 million. And they have a few avenues to easily create another $10+million in cap space if needed.

This is the kind of fear based thinking that gets teams hurt though. Do we know that Stafford being healthy was completely because of Dotson? Stafford got hurt a lot in 2021 too and that was probably one of the best lines he's ever had. If the Rams decide not to pay Dotson , but sign a guy like Robert Hunt or Kevin zeitler or Dalton Risner for much cheaper I don't think the sky would fall.

Of course it wasn't all because of Dotson. And a lot of 2022 was due to injuries too. But what happened was Stafford had no time and eventually got injured due to poor line play. What I do know is Dotson came in and had a spectacular year keeping his guys under control and opening gaping holes for Williams.

We might be able to replace him. I'm just saying, in my opinion, gambling on Stafford's protection to save a few million isn't worth it because I know that a healthy Stafford is our route to a Super Bowl next season. It's not fear based, just think gambling on defense is safer than gambling on oline.

But again, just my opinion and what I'd be more comfortable with.

 

[dang]

From where are these rumours emanating?

Has Dotson's agent said anything, or is it just Rams fans getting their knickers in a twist? My money is on the latter.

Twister Knickers - I loved that band in the 80s!!

 

[PhillyRam]

I keep reading here that the draft class will cost $10-12M.

It is my understanding that in reality it will only impact the cap by $3.8M or so.

So, what’s the real figure?

True...because let's say they add 10 guys. The lowest picks won't even fall in the top 51 salaries. Others will be a wash and will have very little impact. Likley only players selected in the first 3 rounds will have any impact. And again say they have 4 picks in those early rds, they will be replacing 4 guys on the top 51 now making 800K a yr. So you can subtract 3.2M off of those rookies cap hits.

 

[El Chapo Jr]

What if we just drafted another stud G in the 2nd round again? Just a thought

 

[Ram_Rally]

Contracts don't work like that though. Just looking at Quentin Nelson as an example his cap number the first two years was approximately $10 and $12 million. And they have a few avenues to easily create another $10+million in cap space if needed.

Of course it wasn't all because of Dotson. And a lot of 2022 was due to injuries too. But what happened was Stafford had no time and eventually got injured due to poor line play. What I do know is Dotson came in and had a spectacular year keeping his guys under control and opening gaping holes for Williams.

We might be able to replace him. I'm just saying, in my opinion, gambling on Stafford's protection to save a few million isn't worth it because I know that a healthy Stafford is our route to a Super Bowl next season. It's not fear based, just think gambling on defense is safer than gambling on oline.

But again, just my opinion and what I'd be more comfortable with.

All good man. Just some fun discussion as we all speculate. For all we know Dotson will re-sign for 13 million per year and we'll all be happy lol

 

[Londoner]

-K -draft? FA?
-LT - resign Ajax? draft?
-OC - Shelton signed
-RG - resign Dotson? Resign Ajax? Draft?
-TE - Allen fills
-WR3 - Robinson signed
-Edge - draft? FA?
-DE - resign Hoecht to fill?
-CB1 - draft? FA?
-CB2 - FA? Draft?
-S - resign Fuller?
-ILB2 - Draft?

K- draft in round six
LT- resign Ajax. Only draft if an elite prospect falls to 19, or if Kiran Amegadjie is available in R3
OC- Shelton.
RG- resign Dotson
TE- draft cover for Allen in R5/6
WR3- Robinson
Edge AND CB1- draft in R1 and R2. These should be our top two picks, depending upon who is available.
DE- resign Hoecht and stop dropping him into coverage
CB2- Kendrick (runs for cover)
S- draft in R3 or later
LB- ditto

 

[Psycho_X]

What if we just drafted another stud G in the 2nd round again? Just a thought

That would be great. And pick up another starting LT as an undrafted rookie while we're at it.

All good man. Just some fun discussion as we all speculate. For all we know Dotson will re-sign for 13 million per year and we'll all be happy lol

Yeah, absolutely. I hope so. At least the front office has all options available this year. For the last several years our only options was to pray for a rookie or another team's cast off to work out.

 

[Ram_Rally]

That would be great. And pick up another starting LT as an undrafted rookie while we're at it.


Yeah, absolutely. I hope so. At least the front office has all options available this year. For the last several years our only options was to pray for a rookie or another team's cast off to work out.

I will say though that there are some rookies who they could draft and I wouldn't be that concerned. If they drafted Graham Barton or Troy Fautanau in the second round you get youth, upside, and a cheap contract. And those two dudes are straight up gamers. But I'm glad they have options like you said.

 

[El Chapo Jr]

That would be great. And pick up another starting LT as an undrafted rookie while we're at it.


Yeah, absolutely. I hope so. At least the front office has all options available this year. For the last several years our only options was to pray for a rookie or another team's cast off to work out.

Yeah cuz no rookie ever played well for us that was drafted in the 2nd Sounds like you are hell bent on Dotson getting signed no matter the cost. I'll say again that I want Dotson back but not at some astronomical price.