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Wisconsinram

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Mike
My memory eludes me on some of this, but I'm wondering about Ahkello. IFIRC, he was a free agent for a longer time than might be typical last year. In a league always willing to give anyone a chance that might help, I find the lack of interest in him....well, interesting. From my memory, we signed him rather late and he became a starter. What' up with that, I really like the kid. Why didn't the vultures of the league claim him?
Recently, we've lost KT, Lampkin and others (love Snead), but somehow I don't recall anyone interest in our current starting corner. Can someone set me straight?
 

FaulkSF

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That’s a great question. While I may not have the correct answer, it is probable Akhiello’s agent asked for more money, and Snead or Pastoors said, “Fine, go test the market.”

There just may not have been enough interest to have AW move from CA to another destination. He has deep roots in Nor Cal (wife, daughter, father is a jazz musician), so perhaps he’d need to accept something in the $5M and > range.
 

fanotodd

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Three reasons I can think of:
1) AW is at that age where the wheels are feared to fall off on a CB. I’m crossing my fingers that doesn’t happen to both him AND DW.

2) The AD effect was real. Nearly every player who left in FA failed to deliver on his new team’s expectations. Teams might have finally realized that and had trepidations.

3) Finally, this the Rams! They have a knack for drafting and developing day 3/UDFAs. They recognize certain traits they can extract for this team, much like Jeff Beck pulling sound from a guitar. The Rams occasionally work that magic with players other teams have given up on, or just couldn’t get the most from. Besides AW, guys like Dotson and Robert Woods come to mind.
 

Merlin

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If you're a corner who is prone to being BBQ'd by stronger matchups, you want to play behind a defensive front that gets quick and consistent pressure. He should have that here.
 

TSFH Fan

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I'm going to suggest that veteran players get labels.

Looking at the record, the label for AW appears to be that of a veteran journeyman, inconsistent in play, with an injury history. He joined the Rams in 2023 at 28, on a vet min contract. The Rams were his fourth team. He played well enough to get the no. 2 CB spot in SF and Pitt and bad enough to get demoted and deactivated. With the Hawks, he signed a "good" FA contract and got traded before opening day, which doesn't sound great. Let's not pretend AW has shaken his inconsistent level of play with the Rams:

Plus, there's never a shortage of mediocre veteran FA CBs. Spotrac lists veteran CBs who are still available today: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/_/year/2025/position/cb/type/ufa

OP mentions KT and Lampkin, both younger than AW (and viewed as having "upside"), w/o track records of mediocrity. AW is a different situation entirely.
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Edit: Semi-related, but not really:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzCbI0ul93k
 
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