Realistic Trade Targets

[Mackeyser]

If they do nothing after trading away likely our best LB (not saying much, but it is what it is) for a swap of 6th and 7th round picks in 2024, I will be one pissed Ram fan.

Regardless of the team's flaws they are competing to go deep into the playoffs and possibly a SB if they can fix some things.

I don't think merely that draft pick swap is going to help that cause.

Typically a 6-1 team is buying not selling.

The counter argument for that is that it wasn't too expensive to reconfigure Hav's contract and sends the tell that we want him long term.

They also may want to use whatever is left from what they got back in cap room for next year to ensure they can keep guys like SJD, D Will and Corbett.

If they do anything, it'll be a "offer too good to pass up" for a FS, CB or LT... I really don't see any other position being more important than having the money for next year.

 

[RamFan503]

Yeah @CGI_Ram you may be right. The timing seems to indicate they are going to do SOMETHING though.

The list of potentials is fine but how many of us have actually been right when the Rams did a trade? I've been blind sided pretty much every time and even though we heard rumblings about Ramsey, I thought "no way in hell".

So I'm going to guess we make a trade and we'll all be sitting there thinking, "where the eff did THAT come from?"

 

[RamFan503]

Or we snag a player or two off a practice squad that McSnead have been eyeing. That may be more likely.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Or we snag a player or two off a practice squad that McSnead have been eyeing. That may be more likely.

Ben Mason, ... please.

 

[PhillyRam]

I posted this on Reddit, thought I'd repost here.

Been seeing a lot of Madden GMs on Rams twitter lately so I wanted to lay out some possible realistic targets.

Per Rapaport, Rams had about $160k of cap space pre-Havenstein restructure. Havenstein cleared up about $3m and trading Kenny Young cleared up $1.13m per @ Spotrac twitter.

I will be operating under the assumption the trade target will cost around $4-5m. This could always move around, but that's where we are at currently.
I am also focusing on positions we recently lost (Funk, Mundt) and needs (secondary). I tried to get LB numbers, but couldn't find anything definitive. Extra secondary can help move Rapp into the box. Mark Barron 2.0.

NOTE: THESE NUMBERS CAN CHANGE WITH EACH GAME CHECK. I am just going off of Spotrac's 10/20 tweets. I do not know if he was tweeting under the assumption of being traded that day, or at the deadline.

RB:
Marlon Mack. New team: $555k. Next year: $0. Personal opinion? I'd rather go defense, but what the heck it's only $555k.
View:
View: https://twitter.com/spotrac/status/1451192374357491721?s=20



TE:
Hayden Hurst. New team: $1.1m. Next year: $0. Personal opinion? Pass catcher, Mundt locked it down blocking. More pressing positional needs.
View:
View: https://twitter.com/spotrac/status/1450976158900686851?s=20



CB:
Joe Haden. New team: $3.8m. Next year: $0. Personal opinion? Not world shifting but it's fine.
View:
View: https://twitter.com/spotrac/status/1450918044096679940?s=20



Kyle Fuller. New team: $5.2m. Next year: $0. Personal opinion? Would be nice, but on the higher $ end.
View:
View: https://twitter.com/spotrac/status/1450924286236049409?s=20



Xavien Howard. (Couldn't find definitive numbers. This is me guessing. $1.4m signing. Half of the remaining.) New team: $6.8. Can probably stop right there. Too expensive.

S:
Marcus Maye. New team: $5.9m. Next year: $0. Personal opinion? Ah the man of the hour. The one all Rams fans want. This would be the hardest to make the money work. The two realistic ways I see are losing a contributor (no thanks) or restructuring/extending Stafford. If they can do that, I'm all for it.
View:
View: https://twitter.com/spotrac/status/1450921130517225475?s=20



Hopefully this can help clear up some things. Again, had no data on LBs.

And remember you are removing a player from your roster to make room fir the new guy. So say its a player making $850K, you save the remainder of that deal... maybe $500K.

 

[BonifayRam]

Losing Mundt as a blocker in the running game really showed vs the Lions. 2.5 yds per carry. Kendall Blanton got mauled, he's more of a pass catching TE.

They picked up Jared Pinkney, 6' 4, 257lb, and placed him on PS. his forte is blocking. Seems ideal for replacing Mundt. Has he absorbed the playbook?

The MR53 roster spot presently being occupied as our top back up TE is Brycen Hopkins now in his 2nd season is baffling. From all, I can read up on is the complete opposite of TE Johnny Mundt. One thing we know about Hopkins is he is far from being a standout blocker. Well-known WORST TRAIT - IN Line Blocking. It was suggested when he was drafted that his NFL comparison was Jared Cook. However, it was brought out that Hopkins was exceptional & thrives in 12 personnel sets. Have we run any of those sets this season?

Can anyone tell me reasonably why Snead/McVay drafted Hopkins last season and why we are in the position we are in cureently? Org just brought up Kendal Blanton from the PS & finally gave him a few offensive snaps after 3 yrs.

Rams do have a ton of OT's on the MR53 if they need additional in-line blocking this may be the way to go. Maybe the Rams can utilize over 6-6- David Edwards as a blocking TE. Edwards began his career at Wisconsin playing tight end and then transitioned to offensive tackle.

This current situation @ TE just does not feel right at all as this season moved on. So many WR's signed & under contract like Kupp/ Woods/ Jefferson/ Jackson/ Atwell/ Harris/ Skowronek/ Akers & Koski & now all we have @ TE behind Higbee is Hopkins?

 

[RamFan503]

And remember you are removing a player from your roster to make room fir the new guy. So say its a player making $850K, you save the remainder of that deal... maybe $500K.

I thought they had a couple openings with the trade and injuries. Is that not so?

 

[FarNorth]

And remember you are removing a player from your roster to make room fir the new guy. So say its a player making $850K, you save the remainder of that deal... maybe $500K.

As I understand it we still have the ability to restructure Stafford and free up another 6-7 million for this year. With money from Hav and cutting Young that starts to add up. Enough for a serious contract.

Of course the restructures just push the money into the future, in Stafford's case into next year, and Rams may not see much advantage to that.

Unless of course there's a player they really want right now, and to hell with the future cap...

 

[Allen2McVay]

I thought they had a couple openings with the trade and injuries. Is that not so?

It's so.

Assuming Blanton reverted back to the Practice Squad, there are currently 52 on the 53-man roster with the departure of Kenny Young.

With Reed signed-off the PS by the Giants, there would also be an open PS-spot.

 

[dieterbrock]

Ben Mason, ... please.

Dont know who I hate more, Michigan or the Pats, but I'd sure welcome him with open arms

 

[1maGoh]

The MR53 roster spot presently being occupied as our top back up TE is Brycen Hopkins now in his 2nd season is baffling. From all, I can read up on is the complete opposite of TE Johnny Mundt. One thing we know about Hopkins is he is far from being a standout blocker. Well-known WORST TRAIT - IN Line Blocking. It was suggested when he was drafted that his NFL comparison was Jared Cook. However, it was brought out that Hopkins was exceptional & thrives in 12 personnel sets. Have we run any of those sets this season?

Can anyone tell me reasonably why Snead/McVay drafted Hopkins last season and why we are in the position we are in cureently? Org just brought up Kendal Blanton from the PS & finally gave him a few offensive snaps after 3 yrs.

Rams do have a ton of OT's on the MR53 if they need additional in-line blocking this may be the way to go. Maybe the Rams can utilize over 6-6- David Edwards as a blocking TE. Edwards began his career at Wisconsin playing tight end and then transitioned to offensive tackle.

This current situation @ TE just does not feel right at all as this season moved on. So many WR's signed & under contract like Kupp/ Woods/ Jefferson/ Jackson/ Atwell/ Harris/ Skowronek/ Akers & Koski & now all we have @ TE behind Higbee is Hopkins?

Maybe we can convert Hopkins to an offensive tackle. He could be the next Jason Smith!

 

[Riverumbbq]

Dont know who I hate more, Michigan or the Pats, but I'd sure welcome him with open arms

I'm finding it quite discouraging that the Rams can't/won't nail down a blocking TE in the absence of Mundt, so why not an inexpensive FB/TE/S.T.'s guy whose specialty is as a blocker ?

Perhaps Jared Pinkney should be brought up from the practice squad as Kendall Blanton doesn't appear to be the right fit, at least as a blocker, although he isn't getting many opportunities.


For an undrafted free agent, I thought this Wikipedia quote on Pinkney was pretty interesting :

"He was also listed as the top tight end prospect for the 2020 NFL Draft by Todd McShay and Mel Kiper of ESPN and as a projected first round pick by Pro Football Focus."

Let's get him in play and see what he can do ...
jmo.

 

[VegasRam]

McSnead's playing chess.
We're playing checkers.

Yeah...I said it.

 

[PhillyRam]

As I understand it we still have the ability to restructure Stafford and free up another 6-7 million for this year. With money from Hav and cutting Young that starts to add up. Enough for a serious contract.

Of course the restructures just push the money into the future, in Stafford's case into next year, and Rams may not see much advantage to that.

Unless of course there's a player they really want right now, and to hell with the future cap...

This is the first offseason where I think they want to retain several players. Notably...

Corbett
Allen
Williams
Noteboom

So there is a need to scrape together as many nickel & dimes as possible.

 

[Ramhusker]

The clock is definitely ticking. I think we’ll see something Monday.

 

[dang]

This is the first offseason where I think they want to retain several players. Notably...

Corbett
Allen
Williams
Noteboom

So there is a need to scrape together as many nickel & dimes as possible.

Agreed for next year. IMO there’s another reason for trading our best ILB right before the trade deadline.

 

[RAMbunctious]

The counter argument for that is that it wasn't too expensive to reconfigure Hav's contract and sends the tell that we want him long term.

They also may want to use whatever is left from what they got back in cap room for next year to ensure they can keep guys like SJD, D Will and Corbett.

If they do anything, it'll be a "offer too good to pass up" for a FS, CB or LT... I really don't see any other position being more important than having the money for next year.

I hear you about the numbers thing. That's one area of the game that I admittedly am not terribly knowledgeable in.

Even so, it's just hard to think that if the Rams truly believe they have a shot at a SB THIS year that they would make a move that could potentially weaken the team THIS year even with longer term plans at play.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Man, I really feel for the guy. Was starting to play decent. Players loved him. And $1.5mil or whatever cap space saved now is just weird.

Unless there's a move coming, I really don't care for this.

Maybe there is something about Young’s play or attitude toward scheme that we have no way of knowing about. His snap count was lowered recently. It could have to do with a relationship issue with a coach. We will never know. It seems like a bad move just to save on a low dollar contract.

The MR53 roster spot presently being occupied as our top back up TE is Brycen Hopkins now in his 2nd season is baffling. From all, I can read up on is the complete opposite of TE Johnny Mundt. One thing we know about Hopkins is he is far from being a standout blocker. Well-known WORST TRAIT - IN Line Blocking. It was suggested when he was drafted that his NFL comparison was Jared Cook. However, it was brought out that Hopkins was exceptional & thrives in 12 personnel sets. Have we run any of those sets this season?

Can anyone tell me reasonably why Snead/McVay drafted Hopkins last season and why we are in the position we are in cureently? Org just brought up Kendal Blanton from the PS & finally gave him a few offensive snaps after 3 yrs.

Rams do have a ton of OT's on the MR53 if they need additional in-line blocking this may be the way to go. Maybe the Rams can utilize over 6-6- David Edwards as a blocking TE. Edwards began his career at Wisconsin playing tight end and then transitioned to offensive tackle.

This current situation @ TE just does not feel right at all as this season moved on. So many WR's signed & under contract like Kupp/ Woods/ Jefferson/ Jackson/ Atwell/ Harris/ Skowronek/ Akers & Koski & now all we have @ TE behind Higbee is Hopkins?

Forced pick imo. McVay wanted his receiving, playmaking TE to replace the soon departed Everett, who was his other forced pick for the position. Just like TuTu is for DJ. I don’t like the trend. McVay seems to be dictating some of the draft to the point they are picking positions regardless of BPA both were drafted too high.

Dont know who I hate more, Michigan or the Pats, but I'd sure welcome him with open arms

Wouldn’t the Rams have to change their run scheme to add a blocking Fullback type?

 

[Merlin]

McSnead's playing chess.
We're playing checkers.

Yeah...I said it.

Yes but @Loyal is playing tic-tac-toe.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Wouldn’t the Rams have to change their run scheme to add a blocking Fullback type?

Normally yes, ... but Ben Mason can line-up both as a TE or FB.