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Sammy Watkins to the Rams
- Thread starter JIMERAMS
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Mackeyser
Supernovas are where gold forms; the only place.
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I think that only applies if the player doesn't sign the tender.
I thought Tru did, which means that we can sign him to a deal anytime OR that another team can do it as a function of a trade.
It makes no sense for Pittsburgh to be "sniffing" around a Tru trade if he was locked into the Franchise Tag.
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Nope,
http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-trumaine-johnson-20170717-story.html
Start of the article:
If the LA Times isn't enough here's NFL.com
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...onal-football-league-important-dates-for-2017
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Mackeyser
Supernovas are where gold forms; the only place.
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That jersey tweet was fake. Guy was talking about how his fake tweet went viral...meaning he didn't actually buy the jersey.
Still, bet someone was in that position...
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Wait, what??
That can't be true, the Rams would trade him to alleviate the cap hit. If he's released they would be required to pay him but if he's traded the salary goes with him
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You're right, all we'd be on the hook for is bonus money and there's none of that in the franchise tag.
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nobody is trading for tru and his $16m salary this season. don't listen to that clown reporter.
.
shovelpass
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Mackeyser
Supernovas are where gold forms; the only place.
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Elmgrovegnome
Legend
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JackDRams
Hall of Fame
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Those are stats. Not predictions. It's also his stats, in a run first offense. Those numbers are a starting point in McVays offense.
All I gotta say is, I'm happy to see you guys welcome Sammy like this. He's an exciting talent. He just wasn't appreciated in Buffalo where they seem to undervalue his talents. I tend to see this as low risk move by Rams as well. You gave up a backup corner who's often injured and a 2nd for a generational talent. In NBA terms, this is like trading for Embiid with a bench player and 2nd round draft pick. And Sammy plays a lot more than Embiid has. No contest. This is a win. Now let's see if McVay can make Goff into a thrower. If Goff can be half the QB everyone hopes, with Sammy it's going to be lights out!
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Thanks for the input! I have been a Sammy fan for a long time, I'm a Clemson fan, so seeing him in horns is a dream come true just hope we can retain him after the year.
Yeah I think you got a strong chance. I am thinking having Woods here is going to help that more than I initially thought. His talent alone is enough to like him. But he's NOT a primadonna like Odell and the like. The only primadonna move he did as a Bills was demanding more targets on him. Early in first year of Tyrod as QB, he wasn't throwing to him much. He came out and said in media he wants 10 targets a game. He said throw the ball up and he'll go get it. Tyrod heard that and he started throwing the ball up to him, and true to his word, he fights for the balls and gets them.
He's fairly low key. He and woods they go to work man. They don't complain in that run-oriented offense that all they get to do is block. Great attitudes, and good blockers. He's likable as a person. When Bills declined his 5th year option he could have pouted. He came out and said I'm going to earn that contract.
You got a great talent, and a real good person and teammate as well.
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http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angele...atkins-rams-finally-have-a-true-no-1-receiver
With Sammy Watkins, Rams finally have a true No. 1 receiver
LOS ANGELES -- The 2014 draft was coming up, and the Rams -- at that point still playing in St. Louis -- badly needed help at wide receiver. Timing was on their side. The Rams held the No. 2 overall pick, and Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans and Odell Beckham Jr. were all among the best players available. But they chose Greg Robinson, a freakishly athletic left tackle who never quite figured it out. After three years, Robinson was gone, sent to the Detroit Lionsfor a sixth-round pick, and the Rams' desire for a legitimate No. 1 receiver persisted, leaving them to wonder what could have been.
"In '14, I often said, 'Wow, this might be one of the best wide receiver drafts I've ever seen," Rams general manager Les Snead recalled Friday, the day he finally acquired the bona fide outside threat he long coveted. "A handful of players were going to make major impacts in this league."
The Rams finally have one of those players. On the morning before their first preseason game -- at home against the Dallas Cowboys, with kickoff set for 6 p.m. PT on Saturday -- they sent cornerback E.J. Gaines and a 2018 second-round pick to the Buffalo Bills and received Watkins in return.
It was the kind of trade the Rams desperately needed to make, the type that gives their offense a real chance to finally emerge as a legitimate unit.
Watkins, who went fourth overall in that 2014 draft, possesses the talent of a true No. 1 when healthy, boasting the NFL's fourth-most yards per reception since he came into the league. He gives rookie head coach Sean McVay a deep threat similar to what DeSean Jackson was for him in Washington. It'll create a lot of single coverage for Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Tavon Austin, three guys who make most of their impact in the intermediate passing game. It'll open up more running lanes for Todd Gurley, who saw his rushing yards per carry drop from 4.8 in 2015 to 3.2 in 2016. And it'll give second-year quarterback Jared Goff the tools he needs to succeed after a tumultuous rookie season.
"When you attack a team with your pass game, you'd like to use the width of the field and the length of the field, and that's what speed can do," said Snead, who also received a sixth-round pick in next year's draft from the Bills. "It's really just trying to open the field up."
Losing Gaines hurts the Rams. He was very good as a rookie in 2014 and was performing well throughout training camp. But newcomer Kayvon Webster, who is very familiar with Wade Phillips' system from his time in Denver, already had locked down the starting job opposite Trumaine Johnson. And younger players such as Nickell Robey-Coleman, Lamarcus Joyner, Troy Hill and Mike Jordan gave the Rams some adequate depth at the position.
What really hurt was giving up a second-round pick, but the chances of hitting on someone like Watkins in the second round seem far less favorable than the chances of Watkins staying healthy enough to be productive.
The key is making sure this isn't only a one-year stint.
Watkins is eligible for free agency after this season. The Rams and Bills had been talking about a trade like this since the early part of May, when the Bills decided not to pick up the fifth-year option on Watkins' rookie contract (the Rams did the same with Robinson). The Bills paid Watkins most of his 2017 money with a training-camp bonus. He'll cost the Rams less than $700,000 against the salary cap this season, which is roughly $1 million less than what Gaines was on the hook for. But the Rams need to figure out a way to sign Watkins beyond this season.
Doing so would give the Rams enough skill-position players to build around, with Goff, Gurley, Woods and Kupp all 25 or younger and controllable for at least the next three seasons.
It's something Snead is "definitely" interested in.
"He's 24," Snead said of Watkins. "So, you don't just do it for the now -- although we do think he'll help the now. Because of the age, you'd want it to be for the future, as well."
The Rams' offense has finished last in the NFL in yards each of the past two seasons and outside the top 20 in defense-adjusted value over average for the past decade. They know you can't be both bad and boring in Los Angeles, as they were amid a miserable 4-12 season in 2016. So they went about changing that this calendar year. They hired McVay, one of the game's brightest offensive minds, then splurged on a new left tackle in Andrew Whitworth, signed Woods, used three of their first four draft picks on pass-catchers and traded for Watkins.
Watkins, a teammate of Woods in Buffalo, caught 125 passes for 2,029 yards and 15 touchdowns in 29 starts in 2014-15, seasons when the Bills' passing attack wasn't necessarily setting the world on fire. Calf and ankle injuries held Watkins back early in 2015, but he had 900 receiving yards over the final nine games that season. Foot surgery kept him out of eight games in 2016, a year he finished with only 28 catches for 430 yards. But he's healthy now, and players like him normally don't become available so young.
"I think clearly you’re getting a special receiver," said McVay, who doesn't expect Watkins to arrive in L.A. until Saturday night. "Obviously his career, when he’s been available, he’s been outstanding in terms of being able to stretch the field vertically. But when the ball's in his hands, good things happen."
The Rams wanted Austin to emerge as a deep threat, but injuries -- wrist surgery in the spring, a tender hamstring in the summer -- kept him from working on a role that never seemed to fit him. They held out hope for second-year player Michael Thomas, but he's suspended for the first four games after violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances. They drafted Josh Reynolds, but he'll take time to develop.
"A guy who can stretch the field -- vertically, with speed and size -- we knew that was on the agenda, whether it was this spring, this summer, next free agency, next draft," Snead said. "It was an item that we felt really helped take our offense to the next level."
With Sammy Watkins, Rams finally have a true No. 1 receiver
LOS ANGELES -- The 2014 draft was coming up, and the Rams -- at that point still playing in St. Louis -- badly needed help at wide receiver. Timing was on their side. The Rams held the No. 2 overall pick, and Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans and Odell Beckham Jr. were all among the best players available. But they chose Greg Robinson, a freakishly athletic left tackle who never quite figured it out. After three years, Robinson was gone, sent to the Detroit Lionsfor a sixth-round pick, and the Rams' desire for a legitimate No. 1 receiver persisted, leaving them to wonder what could have been.
"In '14, I often said, 'Wow, this might be one of the best wide receiver drafts I've ever seen," Rams general manager Les Snead recalled Friday, the day he finally acquired the bona fide outside threat he long coveted. "A handful of players were going to make major impacts in this league."
The Rams finally have one of those players. On the morning before their first preseason game -- at home against the Dallas Cowboys, with kickoff set for 6 p.m. PT on Saturday -- they sent cornerback E.J. Gaines and a 2018 second-round pick to the Buffalo Bills and received Watkins in return.
It was the kind of trade the Rams desperately needed to make, the type that gives their offense a real chance to finally emerge as a legitimate unit.
Watkins, who went fourth overall in that 2014 draft, possesses the talent of a true No. 1 when healthy, boasting the NFL's fourth-most yards per reception since he came into the league. He gives rookie head coach Sean McVay a deep threat similar to what DeSean Jackson was for him in Washington. It'll create a lot of single coverage for Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Tavon Austin, three guys who make most of their impact in the intermediate passing game. It'll open up more running lanes for Todd Gurley, who saw his rushing yards per carry drop from 4.8 in 2015 to 3.2 in 2016. And it'll give second-year quarterback Jared Goff the tools he needs to succeed after a tumultuous rookie season.
"When you attack a team with your pass game, you'd like to use the width of the field and the length of the field, and that's what speed can do," said Snead, who also received a sixth-round pick in next year's draft from the Bills. "It's really just trying to open the field up."
Losing Gaines hurts the Rams. He was very good as a rookie in 2014 and was performing well throughout training camp. But newcomer Kayvon Webster, who is very familiar with Wade Phillips' system from his time in Denver, already had locked down the starting job opposite Trumaine Johnson. And younger players such as Nickell Robey-Coleman, Lamarcus Joyner, Troy Hill and Mike Jordan gave the Rams some adequate depth at the position.
What really hurt was giving up a second-round pick, but the chances of hitting on someone like Watkins in the second round seem far less favorable than the chances of Watkins staying healthy enough to be productive.
The key is making sure this isn't only a one-year stint.
Watkins is eligible for free agency after this season. The Rams and Bills had been talking about a trade like this since the early part of May, when the Bills decided not to pick up the fifth-year option on Watkins' rookie contract (the Rams did the same with Robinson). The Bills paid Watkins most of his 2017 money with a training-camp bonus. He'll cost the Rams less than $700,000 against the salary cap this season, which is roughly $1 million less than what Gaines was on the hook for. But the Rams need to figure out a way to sign Watkins beyond this season.
Doing so would give the Rams enough skill-position players to build around, with Goff, Gurley, Woods and Kupp all 25 or younger and controllable for at least the next three seasons.
It's something Snead is "definitely" interested in.
"He's 24," Snead said of Watkins. "So, you don't just do it for the now -- although we do think he'll help the now. Because of the age, you'd want it to be for the future, as well."
The Rams' offense has finished last in the NFL in yards each of the past two seasons and outside the top 20 in defense-adjusted value over average for the past decade. They know you can't be both bad and boring in Los Angeles, as they were amid a miserable 4-12 season in 2016. So they went about changing that this calendar year. They hired McVay, one of the game's brightest offensive minds, then splurged on a new left tackle in Andrew Whitworth, signed Woods, used three of their first four draft picks on pass-catchers and traded for Watkins.
Watkins, a teammate of Woods in Buffalo, caught 125 passes for 2,029 yards and 15 touchdowns in 29 starts in 2014-15, seasons when the Bills' passing attack wasn't necessarily setting the world on fire. Calf and ankle injuries held Watkins back early in 2015, but he had 900 receiving yards over the final nine games that season. Foot surgery kept him out of eight games in 2016, a year he finished with only 28 catches for 430 yards. But he's healthy now, and players like him normally don't become available so young.
"I think clearly you’re getting a special receiver," said McVay, who doesn't expect Watkins to arrive in L.A. until Saturday night. "Obviously his career, when he’s been available, he’s been outstanding in terms of being able to stretch the field vertically. But when the ball's in his hands, good things happen."
The Rams wanted Austin to emerge as a deep threat, but injuries -- wrist surgery in the spring, a tender hamstring in the summer -- kept him from working on a role that never seemed to fit him. They held out hope for second-year player Michael Thomas, but he's suspended for the first four games after violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances. They drafted Josh Reynolds, but he'll take time to develop.
"A guy who can stretch the field -- vertically, with speed and size -- we knew that was on the agenda, whether it was this spring, this summer, next free agency, next draft," Snead said. "It was an item that we felt really helped take our offense to the next level."
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http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angele...thy-sammy-watkins-up-there-with-odell-beckham
Rams CB: Healthy Sammy Watkins 'up there with Odell Beckham'
IRVINE, Calif. -- Nickell Robey-Coleman still remembers that game in Kansas City. Sammy Watkins' ankle had been bothering him, but it was late November in 2015, and his Buffalo Bills were very much in the playoff hunt. Watkins torched the Chiefs that Sunday, catching six passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns, all of it in the first half. He beat Sean Smith over the top for a 48-yard catch, tip-toed the sidelines for a third-down conversion, caught a 28-yard touchdown over his back shoulder, outmuscled Ron Parker to haul in another deep ball in double coverage and leapt over Smith for a 21-yard touchdown that stunned the opposing crowd.
"That’s when I really seen him at his best," said Robey-Coleman, Watkins' teammate on the Bills these past three years before joining the Los Angeles Rams in April. "He was like in 'go' mode."
Robey-Coleman and Watkins will now be reunited in L.A., by virtue of the Friday trade that sent cornerback E.J. Gaines and a 2018 second-round pick to Buffalo. Watkins gives the Rams a much-needed vertical threatto pair with a slot receiver in Cooper Kupp, a gadget receiver in Tavon Austin and a possession receiver in Robert Woods, who was also Watkins' teammate in Buffalo from 2014 to 2016. The Rams intend to eventually sign Watkins beyond this coming season and are hoping he can stay healthy.
When he is, Robey-Coleman said, "He’s up there with Odell Beckham.
"He's a true No. 1 in my eyes. He can do quick routes; he can do intermediate routes and he can stretch the field. Even when he’s not open, he’s still kind of open because he finds a way to catch the ball. He’s not dropping it. His hands are huge. And he’s fast."
Watkins and Beckham were part of the star-studded receiver class of 2014, which also included Mike Evans, Brandin Cooks and Kelvin Benjamin. The Bills traded up to select Watkins fourth overall, then watched him catch 65 passes for 982 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie.
Then the injuries came.
Watkins dealt with nagging calf and ankle ailments in 2015, though he caught for 900 yards over the last nine games to register his first 1,000-yard season. In 2016, Watkins was never himself. He had foot surgery in the spring, missed half the year, caught for 28 passes for 430 yards in eight games, then had foot surgery again in January.
But Watkins returned to Bills drills in the middle of June and looked good while making four catches for 39 yards in limited time during Thursday's preseason opener.
The Rams seem to believe he's healthy again.
"I think that’s the biggest thing, to have a healthy Sammy out here," Woods said. "And I think we’ll have that this year."
Woods, now the No. 2 receiver, praised Watkins' strong hands and blazing speed. He believes Watkins' presence will force defenses to leave somebody over the top, allowing a lot of one-on-one matchups for himself, Kupp and Austin, whose role no longer seems solidified.
"It’s going to be hard to double guys," Robey-Coleman said. "That’s going to be key. It’s matchups. He’s going to be able to skew the matchup, because if you’ve got him on the backside, you’ve got Robert, Cooper and Tavon or somebody in there. You can’t double Robert. You might shift your focus onto Sammy, and it’s going to leave open stuff for Tavon, it’s going to leave open opportunities for Cooper and those guys. So if we can win those one-on-ones and beat those one-on-ones, it’s going to be something to see on offense."
Rams CB: Healthy Sammy Watkins 'up there with Odell Beckham'
IRVINE, Calif. -- Nickell Robey-Coleman still remembers that game in Kansas City. Sammy Watkins' ankle had been bothering him, but it was late November in 2015, and his Buffalo Bills were very much in the playoff hunt. Watkins torched the Chiefs that Sunday, catching six passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns, all of it in the first half. He beat Sean Smith over the top for a 48-yard catch, tip-toed the sidelines for a third-down conversion, caught a 28-yard touchdown over his back shoulder, outmuscled Ron Parker to haul in another deep ball in double coverage and leapt over Smith for a 21-yard touchdown that stunned the opposing crowd.
"That’s when I really seen him at his best," said Robey-Coleman, Watkins' teammate on the Bills these past three years before joining the Los Angeles Rams in April. "He was like in 'go' mode."
Robey-Coleman and Watkins will now be reunited in L.A., by virtue of the Friday trade that sent cornerback E.J. Gaines and a 2018 second-round pick to Buffalo. Watkins gives the Rams a much-needed vertical threatto pair with a slot receiver in Cooper Kupp, a gadget receiver in Tavon Austin and a possession receiver in Robert Woods, who was also Watkins' teammate in Buffalo from 2014 to 2016. The Rams intend to eventually sign Watkins beyond this coming season and are hoping he can stay healthy.
When he is, Robey-Coleman said, "He’s up there with Odell Beckham.
"He's a true No. 1 in my eyes. He can do quick routes; he can do intermediate routes and he can stretch the field. Even when he’s not open, he’s still kind of open because he finds a way to catch the ball. He’s not dropping it. His hands are huge. And he’s fast."
Watkins and Beckham were part of the star-studded receiver class of 2014, which also included Mike Evans, Brandin Cooks and Kelvin Benjamin. The Bills traded up to select Watkins fourth overall, then watched him catch 65 passes for 982 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie.
Then the injuries came.
Watkins dealt with nagging calf and ankle ailments in 2015, though he caught for 900 yards over the last nine games to register his first 1,000-yard season. In 2016, Watkins was never himself. He had foot surgery in the spring, missed half the year, caught for 28 passes for 430 yards in eight games, then had foot surgery again in January.
But Watkins returned to Bills drills in the middle of June and looked good while making four catches for 39 yards in limited time during Thursday's preseason opener.
The Rams seem to believe he's healthy again.
"I think that’s the biggest thing, to have a healthy Sammy out here," Woods said. "And I think we’ll have that this year."
Woods, now the No. 2 receiver, praised Watkins' strong hands and blazing speed. He believes Watkins' presence will force defenses to leave somebody over the top, allowing a lot of one-on-one matchups for himself, Kupp and Austin, whose role no longer seems solidified.
"It’s going to be hard to double guys," Robey-Coleman said. "That’s going to be key. It’s matchups. He’s going to be able to skew the matchup, because if you’ve got him on the backside, you’ve got Robert, Cooper and Tavon or somebody in there. You can’t double Robert. You might shift your focus onto Sammy, and it’s going to leave open stuff for Tavon, it’s going to leave open opportunities for Cooper and those guys. So if we can win those one-on-ones and beat those one-on-ones, it’s going to be something to see on offense."
jap
Legend
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I'm glad Robert, Sammy, and (presumably) Cooper are committed to blocking because whenever one of our Dynamic Duo, Todd or Tavon, has the ball in the open field, everybody! needs to block the snot out of defenders. Tavon is continually referred to as a gadget/toy receiver. I would love! to have him demonstrate fully just how dangerous some toys/gadgets can really be. In 2015, we all saw what the Gurley Express! can do when he has the whole field to work with. Will we be partying like it's 1999?