Free agency thread

[dieterbrock]

Brockers has a 2.5 mill roster bonus due 3/15, so they'll need to figure what they are doing about him, quick

 

[DR RAM]

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?

Nice write up, and I have to agree, pretty solid reasoning, and I perceive most of what you wrote the same way. I wouldn't mind seeing Fox on this defense, and I don't think he'd be expensive. A healthy Peters, well, we saw that yesterday, he played pretty damn well in these playoffs, but add the money, I think you are right on. I would hate to see, Brockers go. I could live without him though. I would like to bring Fowler Jr. back. I think the best of his play is ahead of him. I, for one would be happy to see Joyner go. What happened to him this year?

 

[jjab360]

Brockers has a 2.5 mill roster bonus due 3/15, so they'll need to figure what they are doing about him, quick

If I'm being completely honest, I'm not sure how much of a difference maker he is at this point...

 

[Mojo Ram]

If I'm being completely honest, I'm not sure how much of a difference maker he is at this point...

Without Suh he's a difference maker. My point is losing both would hurt.

 

[dieterbrock]

Without Suh he's a difference maker. My point is losing both would hurt.

Exactly.

 

[Zaphod]

They need corner depth so bad, I would be surprised if Peters is not on the roster next year, and in doing so, I really think they ought to draft a corner or two. It would be an ideal opportunity to roll the dice there.

I assume that Suh won't be back, but who knows with Brockers? My take is that they could reset the DL at this point and build around Donald, so long as they acquire a solid veteran nose tackle. So, you could argue that you may find a better fit for the money than Brockers in Wade's system.

At linebacker I personally think they should keep Fowler as he's been the only obvious upgrade at OLB. You would think that they could roll the dice in the draft and at least find some depth at the position. Obviously, Barron should be gone. Upgrading at linebacker has been a work in progress, but Littleton sure has worked out. Plenty of room for help through the draft at the linebacker position.

Of course it makes sense to move on from Joyner as well.

At least we'll get a chance to see what McVay thinks of Mannion as the backup quarterback.

 

[OntarioRam]

Marcus Peters played *just* well enough this post-season, and generally once Talib returned, that I think he is back next season given the following:

1) His earlier poor play might (MIGHT) be explained away by his injury
2) Flowing from #1, that Peters has a track record as a productive CB - a gambler, but a decent starter nevertheless, which he certainly was not at various points this season
3) The Rams needing CB depth badly
4) The Rams gave up significant assets to get him

I'd be okay with it given the above, although not without worries. A few months ago, Peters' return would have had me extremely concerned.

Suh showed in the playoffs that he can still be absolutely dominant when he wants to be. At his age he should still have at least a few more years left in the tank. He's a definite re-sign for me if the money is manageable. Unfortunately, I don't think it will be.

This team has no glaring holes in it. We have areas that need to be improved upon, but not catastrophic weaknesses, so I'd go best player available in the draft that isn't QB or RB, and use free agency and trades to plug position specific holes. The Donald and Gurley picks have shown us that BPA is generally the way to go.

 

[1maGoh]

It Kupp comes back the same, which we can't assume, then I think we'd be ok losing 1 and only 1 wr or text as long as it isn't Kupp. Kupp is a very talented route runner, who is sure handed, and isn't just on the same page as Goff, he's using the same pair of reading glasses at the same time. Reynolds could probably fill in for Cooks and while things would change, the drop wouldn't be as drastic. I think with other injuries we could make other changes, but Kupp is more than just a 3rd WR in the slot for us.

 

[ReekofRams]

I = Re-sign Saffold. We’re going to have too much youth on the Oline when Sullivan and Whitworth does retire, so Saffold is the most important step.

2 = Keep Brockers or re-sign Suh, don’t lose both, or you’ll create a huge weak area on the team. If we keep Brockers, as has been stated already, he needs to bulk up.

3 = Try to re-sign Fowler, otherwise our outside rush will stink again

4 = Try to re-sign CJ, if not we sign Brown

5 = If they have a good replacement for Peters cut him, if not keep him.

6 = Littleton keep, he’s more valuable than other teams would give him credit for.

7 = Barron cut, he never has earned his contract. We need an ILB with a little more umph and weight on him that isn’t so easily pushed around by linemen and tight ends.

8 = I’d like to see Hagar back for special teams.

9 = Cut Joyner

That’s it, the rest is gravy. And some of it is spoiled.

 

[Merlin]

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.

I think in this draft they can replace Suh very easily. They could replace Brock too, but yeah the lack of picks factors in along with our other needs. We have 4 strong starting level needs on defense (NT, ILB, S, ROLB). There is no way they are going to create even more needs unnecessarily.

 

[Merlin]

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.

Our TEs are far from elite. And as much as I like Everett there is no guarantee he is going to be an elite TE next season either. If they could add a dude like Jordan Reed it would be an enormous roster upgrade. He wouldn't be just a good addition. He'd be an elite addition to McVay's offense and give us day one impact in the passing game.

Reed / Higbee / Everett sounds realllllly good to me. Gonna come down to cost, but I guarantee you his first call is to Sean McVay if he hits the market.

 

[jacktheripper85]

I think in this draft they can replace Suh very easily. They could replace Brock too, but yeah the lack of picks factors in along with our other needs. We have 4 strong starting level needs on defense (NT, ILB, S, ROLB). There is no way they are going to create even more needs unnecessarily.

You could easily replace “Regular Season “ Suh but not “Playoff Season” Suh-he played like an animal.

 

[Merlin]

You could easily replace “Regular Season “ Suh but not “Playoff Season” Suh-he played like an animal.

Replacing "Regular Season" Suh would give us a stronger run defense, though, and undoubtedly set us up to be a favorite for home field advantage in the NFC. Which is a great springboard for getting back to the Super Bowl.

This draft is exceptional in big dudes who can move and stay on their feet. They're most likely going to replace him in the draft.

 

[PhillyRam]

I think in this draft they can replace Suh very easily. They could replace Brock too, but yeah the lack of picks factors in along with our other needs. We have 4 strong starting level needs on defense (NT, ILB, S, ROLB). There is no way they are going to create even more needs unnecessarily.

Well if you cut a player, who makes big money, that money would obviously be used to replace him in FA... maybe even replace two players. So it's not about the number of picks available when cutting a player.

Not saying we should cut Brockers, just pointing out that any cut frees up resources to replace that player and maybe even shore up another position.

 

[jacktheripper85]

Replacing "Regular Season" Suh would give us a stronger run defense, though, and undoubtedly set us up to be a favorite for home field advantage in the NFC. Which is a great springboard for getting back to the Super Bowl.

This draft is exceptional in big dudes who can move and stay on their feet. They're most likely going to replace him in the draft.

Agree with you that he will be gone-because of money (unless he takes a discount) but not about run defense being better without him. This teams run defense woes were more on the LBs who can’t fill their gaps and safeties and corners that don’t like to tackle.

Suh just proved that when he’s motivated he’s still one of the best run stuffers in the game at his position.

 

[rams1fan]

Peters and Littleton stay. Fowler goes.

 

[Rams43]

Agree with you that he will be gone-because of money (unless he takes a discount) but not about run defense being better without him. This teams run defense woes were more on the LBs who can’t fill their gaps and safeties and corners that don’t like to tackle.

Suh just proved that when he’s motivated he’s still one of the best run stuffers in the game at his position.

I’ve got a big problem with the “when he’s motivated” part.

In fact, it really pisses me off. And for $14 million? Geez...

This draft is reportedly loaded with players that can replace the “regular season” Suh, and for a helluva lot less than his $14 million, too.

No brainer. Suh’s gone.

 

[Vapor]

I trust the GM will do his job and get what the Rams need for 2019 to win the NFC West, from there it's a lot of luck as far as player heath goes.

 

[PhillyRam]

How about a FB or convert Anderson to FB if he comes back?

McVay needs a 2nd or 3rd pitch to throw when a team takes away his fastball.