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There are so many decisions to be made that it's fair to say this is really a crossroads type season for the Rams, where they need to hit on a lot of them at the least in order to keep that championship window open. And for those who think our window is closed already, well enjoy the draft talk and no hard feelings. But for me, I'm not ready to concede yet when the Rams were so close to getting into the playoffs not to mention gave the 9ers everything they could handle in week 16 even with all the flaws in their 2019 roster.
Basic idea here is that there are some things we can assume are coming this offseason, whether it's basic approach type stuff or even particular decisions on players who obviously need to go. Figured I'd throw out the ones I think are 100% a given, to my mind at least:
1. Ramsey will be signed. I just don't see this going any other way. The Rams invested heavily in draft capital to bring him in, and not signing him isn't really an option. If you want to see what his reaction is to being tagged, look at the reason he came available in the first place. IF he hits the 2020 season without being signed I believe his representation will push him to test the market. Expect the Rams to circumvent all this and lock him up.
2. Goff will be restructured. I don't think the Rams have lost faith in him. He is a pocket passer and as such those guys need to be protected. And I may be in the minority but when I watch the games from 2019 I can see plenty of good things in his play, he made a lot of passes and kept us in a lot of games when there was nothing on the ground and it's not like we had wideouts running wide open all over the joint (and I say this having watched the all-22 for every game). He wasn't perfect, he did make some really stupid decisions too, but if you look at the body of his play with perspective 2019 will go down as a good learning year for him. So assuming he's still the guy as far as the Rams are concerned, which I think is a safe assumption, a restructure makes sense. I expect it will happen this offseason.
3. Cooks will play out 2020 with us. Rams have an out in his contract for 2021 so this will be a business decision to try to get him back to where he was in 2018 which would be the best possible ending. And there was a significant difference in his play in 2020, as well as his mental sharpness. And it didn't really get much better as the season finished up, with a good example being the wheel route he started and stopped on vs the 9ers (he got outside on Sherman vs cover 1 and Goff read it and threw it accordingly) as late in the season as week 16. The old Cooks was a smart and aware receiver. So Rams will try to get him back to that, and if he struggles JRey will step in (this is a contract year for JRey btw).
4. Gurley will play out 2020 with us. The only way the Rams would consider moving him is if he was a problem in the locker room but given what we know about him from the outside looking in that is not an issue. So financially they will ride him in 2020 but hopefully add to that room a bit so that if he does miss significant time we have enough guys to eat snaps. I don't think they will assume Hendy or Brown can eat those snaps so I expect an addition.
5. Weddle will be cut. This is a no brainer of course given the cap boost he'll bring. At this juncture in his career he is a SS who isn't too good as a tackler any more (he changed after the concussion IMO). We have two good SS types, guys who can hit, tackle with sureness, and cover underneath, in Rapp and Johnson. It is possible the Rams add to that room if they don't think they will be able to sign Johnson, which includes both draft and FA, but even if they do nothing but cut Weddle they are in good shape compared to most other rosters.
6. Brown will be cut. A backup has one job: to be available when the main guy can't go. Brown has failed to deliver two consecutive seasons. Rams will upgrade his roster spot in the draft at the very least.
7. Rams will decline Nickell Robey-Coleman's option. NRC is a good nickel back still but his play in 2019 was not something the Rams can do without when the gain is $4.5M. This is basically a cut, and yes he is definitely good enough to try to trade, however I think the Rams simply let him go and replace him in-house. Sucks but it's a cap and business decision to ensure they can field the best roster possible. Rams will 100% move on from him IMO.
8. Littleton will be allowed to leave in FA. I've put up some stuff to show why I think this and don't want to get all crazy about it, but Littleton is not a strong run fit ILB. You can get guys in every draft (college SS types or mobile backers who aren't great in traffic vs the run) starting round 2 who can play third down nickelbacker type roles. They won't be as good as Corey in that role. But his liability in run defense is something the Rams will not accept when it comes to paying him big market money. He is absolutely gone IMO and best wishes to him.
9. Rams will make noticeable investment in the LB roster. The options are out there to upgrade both OLB and ILB in both FA and the draft. OLB is going to see some FA possibilities that fit and it's likely we will see good edge possibilities at our pick in round 2. ILB is going to have good options in FA as well as the draft. It's been a long time since the Rams have prioritized LB in general, however that changes this year because we have a new DC who is used to rosters with superb LB talent. There is zero chance he looks at our game film and comes away happy.
10. Rams will make noticeable investment in the OL roster. I don't know if it will be FA or the draft and it may be both. But I am certain there will be an influx of talent for competition and depth at the very least. There is simply zero chance the Rams stand pat with the roster group that was most to blame for their 2019 results. With the money invested in Goff & Gurley, the stadium opening in 2020, they are going to set up their star offensive players with every opportunity to regain that status by investing in the line that makes it all happen.
Basic idea here is that there are some things we can assume are coming this offseason, whether it's basic approach type stuff or even particular decisions on players who obviously need to go. Figured I'd throw out the ones I think are 100% a given, to my mind at least:
1. Ramsey will be signed. I just don't see this going any other way. The Rams invested heavily in draft capital to bring him in, and not signing him isn't really an option. If you want to see what his reaction is to being tagged, look at the reason he came available in the first place. IF he hits the 2020 season without being signed I believe his representation will push him to test the market. Expect the Rams to circumvent all this and lock him up.
2. Goff will be restructured. I don't think the Rams have lost faith in him. He is a pocket passer and as such those guys need to be protected. And I may be in the minority but when I watch the games from 2019 I can see plenty of good things in his play, he made a lot of passes and kept us in a lot of games when there was nothing on the ground and it's not like we had wideouts running wide open all over the joint (and I say this having watched the all-22 for every game). He wasn't perfect, he did make some really stupid decisions too, but if you look at the body of his play with perspective 2019 will go down as a good learning year for him. So assuming he's still the guy as far as the Rams are concerned, which I think is a safe assumption, a restructure makes sense. I expect it will happen this offseason.
3. Cooks will play out 2020 with us. Rams have an out in his contract for 2021 so this will be a business decision to try to get him back to where he was in 2018 which would be the best possible ending. And there was a significant difference in his play in 2020, as well as his mental sharpness. And it didn't really get much better as the season finished up, with a good example being the wheel route he started and stopped on vs the 9ers (he got outside on Sherman vs cover 1 and Goff read it and threw it accordingly) as late in the season as week 16. The old Cooks was a smart and aware receiver. So Rams will try to get him back to that, and if he struggles JRey will step in (this is a contract year for JRey btw).
4. Gurley will play out 2020 with us. The only way the Rams would consider moving him is if he was a problem in the locker room but given what we know about him from the outside looking in that is not an issue. So financially they will ride him in 2020 but hopefully add to that room a bit so that if he does miss significant time we have enough guys to eat snaps. I don't think they will assume Hendy or Brown can eat those snaps so I expect an addition.
5. Weddle will be cut. This is a no brainer of course given the cap boost he'll bring. At this juncture in his career he is a SS who isn't too good as a tackler any more (he changed after the concussion IMO). We have two good SS types, guys who can hit, tackle with sureness, and cover underneath, in Rapp and Johnson. It is possible the Rams add to that room if they don't think they will be able to sign Johnson, which includes both draft and FA, but even if they do nothing but cut Weddle they are in good shape compared to most other rosters.
6. Brown will be cut. A backup has one job: to be available when the main guy can't go. Brown has failed to deliver two consecutive seasons. Rams will upgrade his roster spot in the draft at the very least.
7. Rams will decline Nickell Robey-Coleman's option. NRC is a good nickel back still but his play in 2019 was not something the Rams can do without when the gain is $4.5M. This is basically a cut, and yes he is definitely good enough to try to trade, however I think the Rams simply let him go and replace him in-house. Sucks but it's a cap and business decision to ensure they can field the best roster possible. Rams will 100% move on from him IMO.
8. Littleton will be allowed to leave in FA. I've put up some stuff to show why I think this and don't want to get all crazy about it, but Littleton is not a strong run fit ILB. You can get guys in every draft (college SS types or mobile backers who aren't great in traffic vs the run) starting round 2 who can play third down nickelbacker type roles. They won't be as good as Corey in that role. But his liability in run defense is something the Rams will not accept when it comes to paying him big market money. He is absolutely gone IMO and best wishes to him.
9. Rams will make noticeable investment in the LB roster. The options are out there to upgrade both OLB and ILB in both FA and the draft. OLB is going to see some FA possibilities that fit and it's likely we will see good edge possibilities at our pick in round 2. ILB is going to have good options in FA as well as the draft. It's been a long time since the Rams have prioritized LB in general, however that changes this year because we have a new DC who is used to rosters with superb LB talent. There is zero chance he looks at our game film and comes away happy.
10. Rams will make noticeable investment in the OL roster. I don't know if it will be FA or the draft and it may be both. But I am certain there will be an influx of talent for competition and depth at the very least. There is simply zero chance the Rams stand pat with the roster group that was most to blame for their 2019 results. With the money invested in Goff & Gurley, the stadium opening in 2020, they are going to set up their star offensive players with every opportunity to regain that status by investing in the line that makes it all happen.
