So Now that Watkins is Headed for the Chiefs...

[Noregar]

Right, and last off season i heard, we wasted last year's 1st. What do you think our record would have been last year without Watkins?

I am not and was never in the "Goff is a bust" camp. I commend Snead (& Fisher) for making the MEGA deal that brought him to the Rams. Of course I am not sure how that is relevant to the Watkins discussion. Two different trades two different players. Speculating on the record without Watkins is futile. Hard to say but others would get more touches including Thomas and Reynolds. One could always make the case that the offense would not have slowed down much without Watkins because at times he was the invisible man in the offense. I liked having Watkins as a threat and wanted the Rams to resign him but not at 16 million. IMO the Rams wound up with the bad end of the Watkins deal with Buffalo. I understand that not all deals/trades are successful and this is one of them.

We'll likely get a 3rd or 4th round comp pick. That means we swapped a 2nd for a 3rd or 4th and one season of Watkins. It was worth it to me imo.

There is no way to tell at this point what type of compensatory pick the Rams get from losing (no typo this time) Watkins or Johnson for that matter. The Rams may end up with nothing if they sign more FA's than they lose. I stand by my statement/opinion that this particular trade was a bad investment. Giving up second round picks for one year rentals definitely is an unsustainable team building model that the Rams cannot continue to follow especially if the FO cannot retain these players once they become free agents. I like what Rams have done in turning over the roster to fit McVay's needs but this particular deal with Watkins was not one of those on the plus side of the ledger IMO.

 

[wolfdogg]

Sorry I'm a little late to the funeral. There was a 99.99% chance that Sammy was leaving the Rams.

I'm sure the Rams knew it too. One thing about Snead and Company is they will have alternate plans now. Trey Burton is a nice possibility. I know he is not the same as having Sammy Watkins. He also won't cost 16 Million a year for three years. Rams can't pay everyone. Donald, Gurley and Goff have to get paid soon.

I wish it was a trade and sign deal for Watkins last year or even an in season extension. Sammy didn't have a great start so that extension never happened. I wonder if Snead and McVay would do it over again? For me the trade had positives and negatives which kind of even out depending how you want to look at it.

Looking forward the Rams have Mike Thomas, 3 catches 75 yards last game of the season, to compete for Sammy's snaps. They also have Josh Reynolds last years rookie wideout with great upside potential. Good competition which should make both players better. Mike Thomas was the early camp star until he got suspended early last year. These two should fill some of the Sammy void. It's still really early in the off season. Rams could sign Burton who along with a year's experience should improve the TE group. Moves are still to be made.

A big defensive improvement is important to can keep the Rams moving forward. So far so good.

You didn't catch up all the way. Burton is a bear

 

[Ram65]

You didn't catch up all the way. Burton is a bear

That's it it's over back to last place!

Wow 32 Million for 4 years. That's crazy 8 Million a year.

 

[Loyal]

How do you know our 2nd would be any good?

I don't. But then, that 2nd might have been parlayed into more than just one pick.

 

[Ram65]

Since the Bears got Robinson, we should kick the tires on Cameron Meredith for cheap


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH3hxFs40hY

He looked good in the highlights.

 

[Loyal]

Hey LACHAMP46, I know how you feel now! I came back from University after a couple of hours and had 29 comments. I feel less upset than before I left, which helped in responding to many of the comments..You normally respond with .
I respond with a Guinness Stout and a :cheers:......

It's all good since we are not dead, and stuck in traffic on the 405...

 

[jrry32]

There is no way to tell at this point what type of compensatory pick the Rams get from losing (no typo this time) Watkins or Johnson for that matter. The Rams may end up with nothing if they sign more FA's than they lose.

That's not really how the formula works.

 

[RedRam]

The Watkins trade turned out to be a mistake. An expensive one at that. Sammy obviously didn't meet the expectations of the Rams. Being traded should have motivated Watkins more than it showed. Especially in a contract year. Now that he got paid, I have to wonder where the motivation will come from for Sammy going forward. KC overspent. Better them than us.

 

[Mackeyser]

That KC O is loaded.

They're a 6 win team.

You're forgetting that they've dumped D and they have Patrick Mahomes at QB in a Reid offense that doesn't do well with rookies (QB needs some time in the system).

With the Chargers getting legit and the Raiders likely to get a bounce from Gruden's Rah-Rah... yep. KC is a 6 win team.

But the money's good even with no wins. Ask any Brown...

 

[Mackeyser]

Sammy was the team's 4th leading receiver. We didn't lose Kupp, Woods, or Gurley. We don't need to draft a WR early. There are still a number of cheaper options in FA who could fill Sammy's role.

Yeah, Woods will be on the #1 CB, but that puts Reynolds if we do nothing on the #2 or #3 CB. I can see Goff going deep a lot early in the season to set the tone.

 

[Flint]

How will you "know" that our need isn't so great?

As for "whinning" over draft picks, we gave up a 2018 2nd round pick for a 2019 3rd round pick (if it falls that way). A 2019 3rd rounder is worth a 2018 4th fourth rounder. So we gave up Gaines and a 2018 2nd rounder for a one year rental of Watkins and a 2018 4th rounder. That BLOWS.

Would this offense have been as good as it was without Sammy ? Yes it cost them a 2nd but they did get to the playoffs for the first time in 15 yrs. that counts for something.

 

[Noregar]

That's not really how the formula works.

I actually do have a general idea of how it works.

In a nutshell, compensatory picks are based on the salary, playing time and postseason honors of the free agents each team lost during the previous offseason and they're only awarded to clubs that signed fewer players than they lost via free agency. That does not include players cut, players released after signing the year before or players making the league minimum.

So without knowing the who else the Rams lose and who the Rams sign in FA along with the 2018 production and playing time of the FA's gained and lost we have no way of knowing what the Rams will receive as compensatory picks. A third round pick is the best case scenario but it is not guaranteed and maybe unlikely as I think the Rams will be very active to bring in FA's to retool the defense.

If it does play out where our Rams actually get a third for losing Sammy then it will definitely soften the blow of losing a second for a one year rental but I still think it was not a good deal for our Rams in the end . Also if the Rams do actually get a/some 3rd or 4th round comp. picks part of that calculation will also be related to losing Johnson as well.

 

[Mackeyser]

Sammy showed he's all about the money . He left a team that is on the rise with a young nucleus and great opportunity to win.

He will now play with a rookie qb on a team that seems to be rebuilding.
Good luck to him, he is a great athlete and has all the potential to be a top 5 reciever.

I heard a radio show saying that jared had to tell him where he should be all time time, that' just ridiculous and not worth 16 million a year .

This much for Watkins? How much is OBJ asking for ?

A lot less after the last few weeks...

 

[fearsomefour]

They're a 6 win team.

You're forgetting that they've dumped D and they have Patrick Mahomes at QB in a Reid offense that doesn't do well with rookies (QB needs some time in the system).

With the Chargers getting legit and the Raiders likely to get a bounce from Gruden's Rah-Rah... yep. KC is a 6 win team.

But the money's good even with no wins. Ask any Brown...

Maybe,

 

[Mackeyser]

Sammy Watkins now has the 4th highest yearly average contract for wide receivers.

He's gonna notice the difference between Goff and Mahomes.

Lil bit. Lil bit, I think...

 

[Mackeyser]

With Woods being doubled at times, I think it may open up the field for a Reynolds or Thomas.

I don't watch the offense as much as you guys but I wonder if some of the lack of targets for Sammy was that he was simply doubled and Goff looked elsewhere. I feel like that's something that happens with young QBs.

Dez Bryant fell off when Prescott took over and other WR's targets went up. Was it cause Prescott was looking off the guy who was doubled?

Some of it was also that Goff couldn't trust him because he didn't know the playbook. He wasn't running the proper routes and Goff couldn't always help him even line up properly.

Which is why he'd be targeted on deep balls and a couple of plays where he was the primary on a deep in, but beyond that, Goff could count on Woods and Kupp much more on a down by down basis.

 

[dieterbrock]

After 13 years without one, it was priceless.

Because those 2nd round picks sure helped up get over those 5-11 seasons right?

 

[jrry32]

I actually do have a general idea of how it works.

In a nutshell, compensatory picks are based on the salary, playing time and postseason honors of the free agents each team lost during the previous offseason and they're only awarded to clubs that signed fewer players than they lost via free agency. That does not include players cut, players released after signing the year before or players making the league minimum.

So without knowing the who else the Rams lose and who the Rams sign in FA along with the 2018 production and playing time of the FA's gained and lost we have no way of knowing what the Rams will receive as compensatory picks. A third round pick is the best case scenario but it is not guaranteed and maybe unlikely as I think the Rams will be very active to bring in FA's to retool the defense.

If it does play out where our Rams actually get a third for losing Sammy then it will definitely soften the blow of losing a second for a one year rental but I still think it was not a good deal for our Rams in the end . Also if the Rams do actually get a/some 3rd or 4th round comp. picks part of that calculation will also be related to losing Johnson as well.

The Rams signing a bunch of cheap FAs won't hurt them. There's no indication right now that they're going after any of the big fishes. Tru and Sammy ought to net us a 3rd and a 4th barring a big splash signing.

 

[Mackeyser]

I'm looking at D.J. Chalk - LSU - 6ft 3 / 187 /4.34 40 Time in the 3rd-4th round!!

Chark's gonna go by the 2nd round.

This FA WR class is gonna put a premium on WRs and push RBs down even further...

I mean LeVeon Bell fighting to make $14M and Sammy Watkins just got $16M.

How does that make any sense?

 

[Akrasian]

The Rams signing a bunch of cheap FAs won't hurt them. There's no indication right now that they're going after any of the big fishes. Tru and Sammy ought to net us a 3rd and a 4th barring a big splash signing.

Yeah, unless there was a serious bargain, I always figured they would go after 2nd tier free agents and maybe somebody cut for cap reasons. They will lose enough free agents that the number they sign won't hurt them, they won't sign anybody that gets close to what Watkins got or what Johnson will get. Meanwhile the Rams are looking for a bargain NT, lower level ILBs that fit the Rams' system, and depth around the field. Maybe a one trick pony WR who will burn teams deep periodically, demanding attention.

Really, the only wild card is how much the multiple QB free agent signings will push down compensation for others. We've never seen this before, so we can only guess if having a bunch of high percentage of salary cap signings will affect the bar for thirds.. But Watkins' contract certainly seems to be of the sort that would historically net a third, and I expect Johnson's to be the same or close in terms of compensation.

For what it's worth, some years the comp level is such that no 7ths get given out, because there are too many higher signings. So we know there's not a hard number of comp picks for each round - just the hard number of 32 total picks.