Sorry I didn't see this thread when I wrote mine.
I'm laughing because the media is shocked. Like I've been posting it was clear that the Rams consider Jalen the AD of the secondary and this signing proves it. The media is shocked because they can't figure out how it can be. It's easy to see if you know how to view the cap. Right now the Rams are carrying a massive deadcap of $34M. But in 2021 that figure drops to $8.5M adding $25.5 M back into the cap. So as I've said, the Rams will use this year's $13M in cap hit to bridge into next year. The will then probably substitute the deadcap of $21M from Cooks for Jalen's contract. Now release Havenstein and Whitworth and they have enough money to sign Kupp and Floyd in similarly strutured contracts.
The Rams will then have to decide between Everett and Ebukam and IMO Samson is the higher priority. They have backstopped both players with Hopkins and Hollins respectively so even if they lose both they already have their replacements. I think they will make efforts to keep both but the market value of these guys makes it unlikely that they can only afford one. Ebukam is a fulltime player, while Everett is a parttime player so it would seem Ebukam is the higher priority IMO.
Anyway as I've been saying the Cap is legal fiction nothing more.
They're not going to re-sign Floyd or Ebukam. Even if the cap is legal fiction, it still exists. Floyd is essentially on a prove-it contract, and if he proves it, he's gone. Ebukam, if
he steps up, will also probably go into free agency. We already know that Everett, Reynolds, and JJ3 are gone after this year, unless something really shocking happens.
There's going to be a lot of maneuvering to keep Ramsey and Kupp and also sign new free agents, their draft picks, etc. That means that good players will be released or traded for picks. It sucks, but that's the way things are.
Also, I would not count Hollins as a starter yet. Depth? Most certainly. An actual replacement for Ebukam? That, my friend, would be a draft pick.
