Sammy Watkins on impending free agency: 'I'm looking forward to staying'

[MadGoat]

I think the Rams will focus on AD, Joyner, Sullivan, and maybe Tru if he gets a little less demanding and will use the transition or possibly franchise tag on Watkins if his agent comes out swinging for the fences. It'll give them a chance to watch him for one season with an entire training camp with us before committing long term to him. And will keep our WR group together for one more season. I really hope he stays because I just have a feeling he would explode in year 2 with us.

If the Rams and Watkins can't come to an agreement, the transition tag is an interesting option. If Watkins makes the rounds and then signs a cheaper than expected deal with someone like the Niners, the Rams can just match it. That's what happened with Alex Mack a few years back.

 

[kurtfaulk]

wow that's alot of money.

but the rams can use that tool to stop him from hitting the market and take their time working out a deal both sides would be happy with.

then again that's what i thought they were doing with tru the first time they tagged him.

.

 

[Rmfnlt]

"But you know it’s a business."

That's all you need to know.

Just pay him commensurate with what he produced on the field.

Don't overpay just because he's "Sammy Watkins"... he sure as heck isn't gonna cut the Rams a break.

 

[fearsomefour]

Not long ago I agreed with you. But they need him and the cap hit for a multi year deal is preferable to franchising him to keep him around. Kevin Demoff will frontload it, and the subtraction of Tavon helps it equalize in year one.

If not, then they can add WR to the litany of needs they have defensively in a draft where they don't have a round 2 pick. I want the defense to get some young impact players.

Don't want to franchise him.
Comes down to the old question....what is the window?
What is the window to seriously contend for titles? I would say now.
Does Watkins help that cause more than other players that could be kept or attained using that cap space?
Don't know.

 

[Karate61]

Watkins is about as good as you could ask for in a receiver. Why mess around with trying to find the next Julio Jones or Odell Beckham, Jr., etc.? It took years to finally get a good wide-out on the team. I hope Sammy and the Rams find common ground and he sticks around a while longer.

 

[12intheBox]

I think Sammy is a bit nutty - not so nutty that I wouldn’t sign him, but nutty enough to take less to stay in LA - where (no offense) nutty is cool.

 

[VegasRam]

Watkins is about as good as you could ask for in a receiver. Why mess around with trying to find the next Julio Jones or Odell Beckham, Jr., etc.? It took years to finally get a good wide-out on the team. I hope Sammy and the Rams find common ground and he sticks around a while longer.

Everybody here (and in RamNation) has been SCREAMING and PLEADING for the Rams to get a #1 WR for 15 fucking years!
We got one, from all appearances he likes it here - no TC or OTA's and he STILL looks good.

C'mon guys - are you EVER satisfied?

Sheesh.

 

[Loyal]

I think the Rams will focus on AD, Joyner, Sullivan, and maybe Tru if he gets a little less demanding and will use the transition or possibly franchise tag on Watkins if his agent comes out swinging for the fences. It'll give them a chance to watch him for one season with an entire training camp with us before committing long term to him. And will keep our WR group together for one more season. I really hope he stays because I just have a feeling he would explode in year 2 with us.

I expect him to be better next year (as most do), and the price only goes up from here. We need a #1 WR for that 2nd round round.

 

[MadGoat]

I expect him to be better next year (as most do), and the price only goes up from here. We need a #1 WR for that 2nd round round.

Beckham is going to sign a crazy contract next year that is going to skew the WR prices for years.

 

[SeminoleRam]

I hope he stays. I really do. I think that he's become a lot more of a team player under McVay, and he's a hell of a receiver.

Totally Agree!!! If the Rams can keep Watkins, Woods and Kupp together for the next several seasons their passing game should be in very good "HANDS"!!!

 

[Rams43]

All due respect, but I don’t understand why some are so hell bent on extending Watkins at almost any cost.

Here are his career stats. Notice his numbers as a Ram in this McVay O? This spread-the-ball-around McVay O?

http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/16725/sammy-watkins

These are not jaw dropping numbers, fellas. Frankly, they are pedestrian numbers.

Nor are they #1 WR numbers (technically, he was the 4th most productive Ram receiver, in fact).

CERTAINLY not franchise tag $16.5+ million numbers.

Extend him for $8-10 million, sure. But beyond that? I’d prefer to have Snead/McVay sign another Woods type FA and go from there.

We need to sign other UFA’s. Lots of them. Gotta look at the Big Picture with our cap dollars this offseason.

I trust this FO and coaching staff. They got tremendous bang for their buck on their FA’s and draft picks last offseason. I expect that they will do so again this offseason.

These guys really get it.

 

[ramfan46]

I think everyone's opinion has a lot of validity to keeping Sammy or letting him walk. I say keep him. Number 1 type WRs cost dough, why let him walk and search for another guy with similar potential who will eventually want top tier money anyway? We could always draft Brian Quick JR and be back to square one. He's been outstanding inside the 5 on those slants. Has he dropped one of those yet? The guy has vice grips for hands. He blocks and appears to be maturing as a teammate before our eyes. He's still really young, never forget that. Pay him top 5 money and the WR core looks to be in great shape for the next 2 years. I agree with the crowd that wants to see him go through a full camp with Goff and soak in the playbook.

 

[OldSchool]

I absolutely would love to have Sammy back. But not at anywhere near the franchise number.

 

[dolphinlover123]

I'm not really worried about this. If McVay wants him to stay, even though we believe that he wasn't fully utilized, then I say hell yeah let him stay. We don't really know how much Mcvay really values him, but we will find out in the offseason.

 

[RamDino]

I'd pay Sam around 10 million per for 4 years. That's 40 million dollars, and I don't think that's giving up a lot of money on his part! However, if he'd prefer to go play with the Browns or the Lions or ?... for an "extra" 3 million per year... see ya. The real question is what does McVay think about Mike Thomas and/or Josh Reynolds. Honestly... I'm not sure we would miss a beat without Sammy.

 

[Sleepy1711]

Just give Tavons money to Sammy and be done with it. Like alot of people have said, we've been looking for a talent like him, why let him go?

 

[LesBaker]

What is a TD worth?

 

[LA_vision]

I like Sammy alot, but if he wants top 5 money, I'm out. The stats on our reciever corp show that the ball is distributed evenly, and that's the beauty of McVays system. We aren't playing a force feed the ball to our #1 like others do, so playing a premium on a #1 reciever seems counter productive. I'm much more concerned with Donald and Gurleys upcoming payday.

 

[DaveFan'51]

http://theramswire.usatoday.com/201...-rams-sammy-watkins-free-agent-contract-2018/

http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-falcons-rams-watkins-20180102-story.html

I was surprised this wasn't posted here already. I searched and didn't see it (sorry if I missed it).

“I love it here,” Watkins told the L.A. Times. “I don’t want to change teams. That’s not what a guy of my stature wants to do, bounce around. I’ve got a family so I’m looking forward to staying. But you know it’s a business.”

Personally, when it comes to Watkins, I'm not just looking at stats! I think he's a keeper!

 

[Ram65]

I agree on the franchise tag being the backup plan for Watkins. It's pricier than just signing him in terms of cap impact, but buys them time in worst case scenario.

The Rams had to have learned from the TruJo debacle. Just say no to franchising him.

That's all you need to know.

Just pay him commensurate with what he produced on the field.

Don't overpay just because he's "Sammy Watkins"... he sure as heck isn't gonna cut the Rams a break.

I posted before his estimated value was just over 9 million like 9.2-9.4 Million. I would look into transition tag but, teams like the Whiners with money could structure the deal that would be hard to match. At least they make it harder for the Whiners I guess. Just do that deal without any tagging. I wouldn't object to 1-1.5 Million over that for a 5 year deal. Would be a bargain in the long run.