Rams Almost spent a 7th rounder on La'El Collins

[Dodgersrf]

To not pick one of the highest rated OTs in the draft, someone I'd have been OK with taking at #10 is a head scratcher for sure. The fact that all the other teams passed on him too leads me to believe that there's something we don't know about this situation. I read somewhere that the league put out an advisoryrequest to all the teams not to draft him and while I usually ignore stuff like that....

I beleive if he was drafted, he could refuse to sign and reenter the draft next year.
Since he wasn't drafted he becomes a FA, therefore not eligable for next year's draft.

I think teams believed that he wouldn't sign. It sounds like his agent blew it by stating that Collins would not sign if drafted after the 3rd rnd. The guy could have been taken in the 4th or 5th by a team and made more money than an UDFA.
This was a very costly bluff by his agent. Obviously an attempt to get a team to take him by the 3rd rnd. Immediately after the 3rd rnd ended, his agent should have made it clear that he would play THIS year if drafted. He cost Collins and himself quite a bit of money by being an idiot.

I don't care either. I wanted to draft him from the 3rd rnd on. Take the chance that he would sign.
It's a gamble well worth taking.

 

[RaminExile]

The Rams probably just decided the douchebaggery threatening to sit out and the sketchy aspects of this player wasn't worth it. Apparently other teams agreed.

Then again, Fisher claims they were in the running to land him as an UDFA. So, what the hell do I know?

Well you kind of answered your own question CGI. They obviously didn't think the douchebaggery was enough to not want the guy because we made a real hard play for him in UDFA. Perhaps some of his decision in going to Dallas was us going "we're going to pick him" and then not when his agent said we'd look silly....

It seemed to have him sat there in the 7th was an opportunity we couldn't pass up - but we did. Hopefully he wont go on to a stellar career and make us regret it....

 

[Alan]

Dodgersrf not believing his threat either:
I beleive if he was drafted, he could refuse to sign and reenter the draft next year.
Since he wasn't drafted he becomes a FA, therefore not eligable for next year's draft.

I think teams believed that he wouldn't sign. It sounds like his agent blew it by stating that Collins would not sign if drafted after the 3rd rnd. The guy could have been taken in the 4th or 5th by a team and made more money than an UDFA.

I don't care either. I wanted to draft him from the 3rd rnd on. Take the chance that he would sign.
It's a gamble well worth taking.

I doubted he'd have actually sit out even before his agent made that statement so yeah. What gets me is that it wasn't just the Rams who passed on him and that's what's amazing. Unless, as I said, there's something we don't know. I guess you're probably right about what all the teams were thinking but mass stupidity is still stupidity. We'll probably never know now but there's no getting around the fact that our inaction was an extremely stupid non-move. IMO.

I find my self almost hoping he's a bust just to make sure that the Cowgirls aren't able to take advantage of this situation. Though when I think about the apparently innocent young man involved I want to slap myself silly for entertaining that thought.

 

[Leuzer]

Hindsight is a bitch.
This is why were preaching at the end of round 3 and round 7 why we should take a shot.
We had nothing to lose if we grabbed him at 7. Now we're the sheep.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

No matter what the agent says now, there was still a chance that he'd sit out because he'd make more money doing so (UDFA can redo deals after 2 years. Drafted players cannot). And especially, if he were selected by a team he didn't want to play for on Sundays.

Both, could have played a role in that long, long, post draft discussion. And while we know what the agent would have recommended, we still don't know what Collins and his family would have ultimately decided.

This is what I don't get. Why can't the Rams renegotiate his contract before it is up and give him a signing bonus or whatever and a fair raise after his first year if he was panning out? They are not forced to hold a player to the term of the contract are they? They signed Quinn before his deal was up.

 

[ReddingRam]

This is what I don't get. Why can't the Rams renegotiate his contract before it is up and give him a signing bonus or whatever and a fair raise after his first year if he was panning out? They are not forced to hold a player to the term of the contract are they? They signed Quinn before his deal was up.

yes ... under the CBA and the new rookie contract rules, they are NOT able to renegotiate for at least 3 yrs.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

There have been a couple of forum members contesting that many of us that like to play GM are only guessing at picks and don't have adequate resources to make such guesses as accurately as the pros (Despite their terrible success rate). This is a prime example of how wrong that is. If most of us had their way all along, then Collins would be playing for the Rams for the next few seasons. 6th and 7th rounders on a well stocked team are crapshots at best. Why not take a shot on a nearly sure thing. You can talk with an agent about contract terms but you can't talk to an agent about making a player have more talent.

 

[Akrasian]

I can understand not drafting him and still wanting him as a UDFA. His agent had made it clear that if drafted after the third he was going to be upset with the team and not want to sign. Teams do not want players who do not want to be with them, too much can go wrong. OTOH, if he signs willingly as a UDFA he presumably does want to be there, will work hard, etc.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I would have drafted him in round 7. The chances of the two seventh rounders making the roster as a starter with a real impact are slim to none, while Collins had a great chance to become a starter or top tier backup. I would have called their bluff and if they really did sit out then it was still worth a shot. The depth on the Oline would have been sick for the next 3/4 years.

 

[Corbin]

My thoughts during the draft " draft his ass at the very least with a 7th, if things clear up try to negotiate with him or trade him away to another team (Dallas etc...) and get a upgraded pick 3-5 rounder for him. Seemed like an investment to me.

With that being said I am not going to cry about it today. We have 5 huge ass refrigerators with arms and legs and chances are at least two of them are going to pan out to be AVERAGE TO ABOVE AVERAGE to say the least. I have a real good felling about Havenstein, I really do and a decent feeling about Brown and Wichmann. Competition breeds championships and we now have plenty at all areas on the team now. I'm excited...

and FUCK SPILLED MILK, DONT CRY ABOUT IT JUST GO GET MORE THE FRIG(S) ARE RIGHT THERE... LOL

 

[-X-]

View: https://twitter.com/theMMQB/status/607306737880694786

 

[jrry32]

So it has been confirmed. The Rams were going to draft him. Sigh.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Once again the impossible happens: fans make a better decision than an NFL front office. This time it was an entire message board.

 

[paceram]

My thoughts during the draft " draft his ass at the very least with a 7th, if things clear up try to negotiate with him or trade him away to another team (Dallas etc...) and get a upgraded pick 3-5 rounder for him. Seemed like an investment to me.

With that being said I am not going to cry about it today. We have 5 huge ass refrigerators with arms and legs and chances are at least two of them are going to pan out to be AVERAGE TO ABOVE AVERAGE to say the least. I have a real good felling about Havenstein, I really do and a decent feeling about Brown and Wichmann. Competition breeds championships and we now have plenty at all areas on the team now. I'm excited...

and freak SPILLED MILK, DONT CRY ABOUT IT JUST GO GET MORE THE FRIG(S) ARE RIGHT THERE... LOL

Totally Agree!

 

[Amitar]

There was absolutely no excuse for not taking him especially in the 7th round AND when the Rams had an extra pick AND when the Rams were desperate for OL. Whoever made the decision to not draft him should be fired IMHO. I would have been shocked if after talking with Fisher and Snead they could not come to an agreement.

 

[Corbin]

There was absolutely no excuse for not taking him especially in the 7th round AND when the Rams had an extra pick AND when the Rams were desperate for OL. Whoever made the decision to not draft him should be fired IMHO. I would have been shocked if after talking with Fisher and Snead they could not come to an agreement.

Fire Snead? o_0