Free agency thread

[OldSchool]

Roger Saffold- We've all read the articles and know the story by now. He's said he wants to come back and feels he may have to take less here to do that from what he can get on the open market. IMO a must resign for 3 years.

LaMarcus Joyner- Past years franchise tag did little if anything to live up to that salary. In the past I was a big LMJ guy and loved his game. This season has brought this guy down to one word for me. Peace! Let him be overpaid by somebody else.

Ndomukong Suh- Was very lackluster during the regular season but was an absolute unit in the playoffs. While I'd like to have this guy back I just don't think we'll have the money for what he wants.

Dante Fowler Jr. - Guy enjoyed a rebirth for us and had some big moments in both the regular and post season. I for one would like to bring him back. It wouldn't break my heart if our top 3 Edge guys were him, Samson and Obo, we could always add another pick to it. Just not sure what kind of salary he's going to demand or if his time here made him love the place and he wants to come back so to me this guy could go either way.

Corey Littleton- Could get a nice payday but really hope we bring him back. Special team demon and our signal caller on D. He's a RFA so that helps a lot.

CJ Anderson - Would love the wrecking ball to be back but he may have played his way into a bigger deal than we want to give him and there could be a few teams looking for a feature or even split carries back that has much more cap space than we do so he likely walks.

Sam Shields- This guy was a monster on special teams. IMO being out as long as he was may require a couple years to get back his cover game. I'd like to bring him back and it may be cheap enough to do it.

Matt Longacre, Dominique Easley, Ethan Westbrook and Morgan Fox - All four could likely leave and we wouldn't even know it.

Malcolm Brown- Coming off the injury will likely come back on a 1 year deal.

Ramik Wilson, Bryce Hager, Garrett Sickels, Carlos Thompson- Like the DLine guys above could all go away and we wouldn't blink. Hager and Wilson were good special teamers but that's about it.

Dominique Hatfield, Blake Countess and Troy Hill - Countess may be the only one I'd like to bring back. He's an RFA and was pretty solid depth in the secondary and good on special teams. The rest could vanish and we'd be ok with that.

JoJo Natson- The guy everybody loved for a few weeks was just an average returner the rest of the year and offers nothing on coverage teams or offense. We can draft a guy in the 6th or 7th rounds to provide that. Bring him back on the cheap otherwise.

Sean Mannion- Last but not least our QB2. In very very limited time he's shown nothing really worthwhile. There isn't a whole lot of other likely options in free agency so either a mid round pick and/or bring Sean back. Will be interesting to see how McVay and Snead handle this one.

Cuts

Mark Barron- We all anticipate and might even celebrate this guy being cut. It's ok to have one undersized ILB in todays NFL. To have 2 and the second being Barron was just a travesty. He'll save enough money to sign Saffold and not dip into the rest of the free agent money.

Michael Brockers- This one pains me as Brock has long been one of my favorite players. Is he out of position as an end in the 3-4? Could be. But the bottom line is he wasn't worth his cap hit at any point in the season and may have to go. He's due a roster bonus mid March so if cut before then add's $10 million to the cap. As much as it hurts me he may be gone.

Marcus Peters- I know some are going to be calling for this but his 5th year option is only $9 million. He may be dealt but that elevates the need at CB significantly. I wouldn't be shocked if we trade him but I don't see a cut. Unlike the previous 2 cuts I listed he could get a big pay day in free agency earning us a comp pick of significance which doesn't jive with Sneads MO. It's either trade a guy or let them walk in free agency to earn that comp so I think he stays but gets no extension.

IMO there's nobody else worth any kind of cap hit that is worth mentioning on the cuts. There could be others but the cap hits/savings are insignificant so not mentioning them.

FYI prior to any changes/cuts we are sitting at just over $32 million in cap space with an estimated of $189.5 million.

Any thoughts?

 

[hotanez]

Cutting Brockers and letting Suh walk? That can't happen. Think about it, who would start along the Dline? plus with the other moves you have zero depth. Brockers needs to stay

 

[hotanez]

Forgot to say I'm with you on everything else

 

[OldSchool]

Cutting Brockers and letting Suh walk? That can't happen. Think about it, who would start along the Dline? plus with the other moves you have zero depth. Brockers needs to stay

There is free agency and the draft and a couple guys we loved that were drafted last year. I'm not saying there aren't risks but there were what 6 new starters on defense at the start of this year? Also I'm not sure if what I wrote conveyed it I'm not for cutting Brock but I think it's a possibility because of the cap hit.

 

[hotanez]

There is free agency and the draft and a couple guys we loved that were drafted last year. I'm not saying there aren't risks but there were what 6 new starters on defense at the start of this year? Also I'm not sure if what I wrote conveyed it I'm not for cutting Brock but I think it's a possibility because of the cap hit.

I just disagree with Brock being a cut is all. He won't be easily replaced. Now Barron definitely but Brock I just don't see it. Maybe they try to sign him to an extension.

 

[BonifayRam]

My Thoughts:

I am in full agreeance with you on most of your suggestions with the major exception to Brockers.

The DL
Is sure to have some changes here in March. Brockers would not be under considerations to be released after losing DT Suh, DT Westbrooks, DT Easley & DE Longacre. I would advise Brockers that he would be moving back to NT playing next to Aaron Donald in 2019. With a plan to beef himself back to where he was a few years ago close to 325lb to 330lb range. I would also advise Brockers that the Rams plan to secure either a well seasoned veteran NT like Brandon Mebane, Steve McLendon or Earl Mitchell...Or youngins like Tyeler Davison or Danny Shelton (who just demolished Austin Blythe last night) to rotate in with him. Finally, I would advise him that the Rams plan to draft an NT to go along with Sebastian Joseph-Day.

Snead will be forced to make Dante Fowler Jr. a decent offer because he is our only bona fide edge rusher on this team @ the moment. My earlier suggestion this past month was to overpay him on a one year deal & regroup after the 2019 season. Rams have under contract four very young inexperienced Edge Rushers that need to be developed over the next 7 months.

The OL
Rodger Saffold is a No #1 priority UFA & must be resigned for 3 to 4 yr contract. The Rams are on the verge of some very big changes in our starting OL for 2019. Snead may be forced to doing what he did in our 2018 draft in reference to OL'ers. If Saffold departs for another team, I would look for Kromer to look hard @ UFA's ...Broncos OC Matt Paradis & Bills OG Ryan Groy both are perfit fits for Kromer's OZS.

 

[OldSchool]

OK just to clarify again, I'm not advocating Brockers being cut. But to pretend it's not a possibility seems naive. Brockers since his being picked has been one of if not my absolute favorite Ram.

 

[MadGoat]

Based on the Rams recent approach to free agency I'd assume that they will be looking to maximize top level compensatory picks. That means Suh, Joyner, and Fowler will be evaluated as cost of resigning + lost picks. If the Rams have decided to pursue top level UFAs themselves, that changes the equation a bit.

I'm guessing they plan to continue that strategy through 2020 as well. That likely means they expect to recoup a 3rd or 4th round pick for Peters eventually. If someone were willing to give up a 3rd round pick for him, I guess the Rams would listen, but that would mean they would need to go out and find a starting corner somewhere. It's not so easy to do. I expect that Peters will start one more season and they draft someone with an eye towards 2020.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Some of these guys turned it up in the playoffs. They held the Patriots to 3 first half points.

The backups can go. Baron played well in the playoffs but I’d love an upgrade. Joyner played better in the playoffs but i always felt he was a smurf. I’d rather see a taller faster Safety.

I’d keep Peters, Talib, Suh, Fowler and , Saffold if possible. I’d like to see a bigger more physical receiver get drafted. I hoped that Everett would be that matchup problem but he’s marginal. When the going gets rough, small receivers get covered and abused. I love Woods but if he breaks the bank once he hits free agency, I’d rather let him walk, since Cooks is signed for 6 years.

 

[Merlin]

A lot of the decisions are easy ones and some will take care of themselves. Goff probably won't get paid early simply because they know damn well he's going to break the bank and they want that extra year of assembling the team around him.

Big Whit needs to be restructured. He played very well this season so extend him and let him ride into retirement in horns with a contract we can get out from under if we need to. I really want him back.

Saff is going to get a huge FA payday and rightly so. I do think it can be with the Rams if they restructure Whit with a favorable cap hit, where they have two guys getting paid in Havenstein & Saff which is fine.

CJ will only be pursued if they're worried about Todd's health. I think there's some teams out there that will want him enough to raise his price above what we want to pay, but we'll see. If they want him they have to lock him up before FA.

Brock is a cut candidate if they need money, but I think it's smarter to have him bulk up a bit and keep him around. Rams don't have a ton of picks they can use to plug additional holes, so creating holes in the roster is not something they are going to want to do and Brock is a great team guy and leader on that defense.

Suh, Joyner, Mannion, Shields and Barron are obvious roster departures.

Fowler is likely to leave in FA as well, he has upside in this scheme but some team on the market is going to overpay and we cannot afford to do that; in spite of some big plays he made in the playoffs, however, if they are going to pay someone I'd prefer they look at the market or just get it done in the draft.

We also have a ton of need for depth improvements. So while not critical I do think Les will shop for bargains on the FA market.

Oh and lastly re: Peters he is a tough one. On one hand he played well down the stretch as he seemed to have a clue WTF he was doing, and he's going to be playing in a contract season which means he will be locked in. On the other hand he's not the type of guy they want to build this roster around. It's a hard call and I've waffled a bit on it, so wouldn't be surprised if the Rams are struggling with it.

 

[jjab360]

We need Saffold back out of our UFAs and Suh if he's willing to pay at a discount. The rest we could move on from and potentially upgrade.

I like CJ Anderson, but there are a lot of cheap options at RB if we don't bring him back.

 

[Merlin]

Oh and btw... Keep your eye on Jordan Reed, TE, Redskins. If he hits FA watch out.

 

[hotanez]

Oh and btw... Keep your eye on Jordan Reed, TE, Redskins. If he hits FA watch out.

haven't really followed the Redskins for awhile. Is he still injury prone?

 

[Merlin]

haven't really followed the Redskins for awhile. Is he still injury prone?

Yes. But that's also why he's available. He's not just a guy who makes us better, though, he's a plus target that would make it extremely hard on defenses and give us more depth of pass catching options in the event we were to lose a guy like Kupp again.

 

[Mojo Ram]

Won't go into alot of detail but when it comes to Brock and Suh the Rams need to be very careful. Lose one...you're trying to replace a hole AND experience. That's just a part of football. It happens. You do what you have to.
Lose both and you're scrambling to fill two holes and a TON of experience in one DLine room. Dubious.

 

[Ram65]

I have been an advocate that Saffold can be resigned at a reasonable price because at 31 he isn't getting any mega- deal offers.

Fowler could be the same as he made some big plays but, was not consistently getting pressure.

Brockers gains weight and move back inside but, his cap hit is high for an average DT. Definitely food for thought.

Suh and Joyner are gone. Barron too but, he could get a pay cut and stay. He did play better late in the year.

That's a start for now. Hard to know how the staff sees last years rookies. Rams had little depth on the defensive line so they could go in a lot of different directions. It does need improvement.

 

[thirteen28]

I can't see us letting both Suh and Brockers go, and if it has to be one or the other gone, it's Suh. Suh I think has the highest cap figure of any Ram right now, and while I don't think he'll make that much next year no matter where he plays, he'll still demand a big paycheck. So we let him walk and we get a compensatory pick for him to boot. Brockers on the other hand, if we cut him, yields no compensatory pick for us.

Keep Brockers and either bulk him up to be a NT or get a true NT in there. Let Barron go, while his playoff performance was pretty good, I still think his best fit is OLB in a 4-3. We let Joyner walk too for another compensatory pick and replace him with someone bigger and better (I'd feel differently if his 2017 performance had been sustained through 2018).

 

[Robert]

We need to keep peters the guy is a very solid number 2. He struggled badly trying to fill in as our number 1 he played so much better with Talib back in the lineup. For 9 million you have to keep him. We will have to many holes to fill if we let him walk.

 

[Mojo Ram]

I pretty much agree with all except i think Brown's time here is up. #2 RB's in a one back feature offense should be churned constantly while trying to bring in younger, cheaper options. John Kelly is that guy now IMO.

I don't think we need to spend much effort at upgrading TE. I think the Everett/Higbee thing works and Everett is a #1 primed and nearly there. IMO.

I also don't see the need to spend much effort in changing our current WR room. Maybe draft another possession guy late to groom just in case this whole Kupp getting injured thing turns into a yearly thing. I'm a bit concerned there but that's another discussion.