Well the Rams feel they can't afford the $54M of cap space Ramsey will be eating up over the next 2 yrs.
Exactly...got a cheap vet FA on a prove it deal. Worked out.
Vet cb with a small cap hit? Yes. Vet cb that could take the place of Ramsey and has the smarts and talent to plug into Raheems STAR role and succeed? No.
Did KC have a Jalen Ramsey type? Did the Eagles? You don't need a Ramsey to get to the SB.
Problem the Rams are stuck in is we don't have time on our side to let rookies develop nor compete with teams overpaying for free agents. If we got rid of Ramsey, we know these agents will know we are desperate for DBs and do their best (which is their job) to get the most money they can out of us. Plus players, no matter what they say, always go for the money. The trio of Donald, Kupp and Stafford would essentially end up losing at minimum a year or more (which is a lot in old vets) hoping we get back into championship mode. By that time, we'd be blowing it up again most likely when AD retires, Kupp is even older, and Stafford is even closer to or ready to retire as well.
Stating what the last SB participants had is just recency bias in my eyes. It's been proven there are different ways to get a chip. There are so many other things that need to go right. By the way, the Eagles had the top rated secondary (which by the way, I was a big ass supporter of signing Bradbury last year). I'm not about comparing what one team does vs us cuz fuck them, they aren't the Rams. I'm about what gives us the best opportunity to win now and trading Ramsey just ain't it. There's a reason a lot other teams are interested cuz great, game changing players like that are rarely available. When we hit rock bottom due to aging players and players retiring, then we rebuild. I feel the route we go will if the trade does thru will simply keep us relevant, maybe make the playoffs, but not real contenders for a chip. I could be wrong, but I feel confident that I am not. I'll add that the only thing that will make me accept us getting rid of Ramsey is if he is indeed making absurd contract demands that cripple the shit out of us. So far hearing about it is just rumors.
This team fell apart because the OL fell apart. Not because Tansey was hurt...in fact he played every game. Fact is on today's NFK defense is de-emphasized by the rules.
So by keeping Ramsey and having less FA money available and less picks...how do they get better?
We aren't adding any great o-linemen in FA, maybe solid, but we can do that without getting rid of Ramsey. We can also add another one in the draft with our 2nd round pick. Also, I can't imagine we'll have to crazy amount of injuries we had last year.
I would restructure Ramsey to lower his cap hit, trade Van Jefferson, try to trade Brian Allen or cut him, trade back in the 2nd round once or twice but not out of the 2nd for more picks. Jefferson I don't mind trading because I doubt we resign him and he's nothing special just solid (plus we should be putting Tutu to use since we need speed on the field and so I can stop bitching about Creed lol), Allen just isn't reliable. Also in FA, I would be shrewd and sign players who need prove it contracts such as John Johnson (just using him as an example).
Problem is even the young guys they wanted to see plsy on the OL got hurt. Not sure they want to into this season relying on the same group.
He has 3 yrs left on his contract. Cap hits of 26M, 28M and 23M.
Problem for me is Ramsey is more valuable than those picks that aren't guaranteed to be good when we know he's a great player. There are ways to kick the can down the road so we keep him but I'll say it again. If Ramsey is being absurd in what he wants, then at that point, yeah we don't have much of a choice. I hope the Rams do everything they reasonably can for that not to happen since Ramsey's loss is being severely underestimated.
I'm no cap guru, but are you telling me there's no way for the Rams to move dollars around in the cap? I know there has to be
Not as valuable as those picks and the $33M of cleared cap space for 23' & 24' that they can get by trading him.
Trading Jefferson has no real negative impact on the offense as he isn't a huge playmaker. That's laughable. We have Slow, Atwell, we can draft one as well. Stop acting like Jefferson is a game changer man.
He only has 3 yrs left on his deal. All 3 yrs are already very pricey. They are already over next yrs cap. Moving money to next yr just turns you into the Saints.
Draft one? They need all the picks they can get to find OL, S, CBs, an edge, and DL.
Who says it has to be structured the way you are suggesting? Unless you are the Rams cap guy, which none of us are, you can't just present one way for them to get around the cap. The Rams have done it before and they can figure out a way to do it again. Organizations that want to keep a player always can find a way to do so. Lastly, don't get so stuck on me wanting to simply keep Ramsey at whatever cost, remember I said if his demands aren't absurd for an extension then we got to go the trade route.
You telling me Snead isn't trading back to pick up more picks? Jefferson is a number #3 at best. You telling me we can't draft one or even sign a cheap ass one in FA. It's very doable.
