Time has come for LA Rams to extend CB Jalen Ramsey

[BonifayRam]

The time has come for the Los Angeles Rams to extend CB Jalen Ramsey

It’s officially time to ensure the leagues best cornerback is in Los Angeles for the long term.

www.turfshowtimes.com

It’s officially time to ensure the leagues best cornerback is in Los Angeles for the long term.
By Sosa Kremenjas 2/18/2020

Halfway through the 2019 NFL Season, the Los Angeles Rams felt a weakness in their cornerback group, choosing to address it by trading a boatload of assets for former superstar Jacksonville Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey.

Ramsey — who was sidelined with a “back injury” — requested a trade, citing irreconcilable differences with the front office. The Rams elected to secure what many believed was a splash move, though the addition of Ramsey must be viewed as not only the short-term boost it proved to be, but a long-term addition that should significantly improve the defense moving forward.

Ramsey is a three-time pro bowler and one-time First-Team All-Pro selection back in 2017. Not only has Ramsey been recognized as a special talent by media members, but his numbers reiterate just how dominant the eccentric cornerback has been since entering the league in 2016. Since his rookie season in 2016, Ramsey ranks 13th in interceptions with 10 and ranks 10th in pass deflections with 49 among all CB’s in the NFL.

Dating back to 2018, here are Ramsey’s in-depth statistics (courtesy of Pro Football Reference):
Interceptions:
2018: 3
2019: 1
Targeted:
2018: 113
2019: 68
Completions:
2018: 61
2019: 45
Completion percentage:
2018: 54%
2019: 66.2%
Yards allowed:
2018: 856
2019: 549
Yards/completion:
2018: 14
2019: 12.2
Yards/target:
2018: 7.6
2019: 8.1
Touchdowns allowed:
2018: 3
2019: 1
Rating when targeted:
2018: 76.4
2019: 89.6

The numbers may lead you to believe this season presented something of a regression from Ramsey, though a lot of that can be explained rather easily. First, Ramsey very well could have been unmotivated playing in Jacksonville in his three contests in 2019. A highly-emotional player, Ramsey made it clear he was tired of playing for a franchise lacking any offensive firepower and a consistent loser. Not only did the lack of motivation potentially play a role, but Ramsey may or may not have suffered a legitimate back injury which seemingly cleared up rather quickly once he was traded to Los Angeles. Lastly, getting traded midseason and needing to learn a new scheme, defensive coordinator’s tendencies, new teammates, and everything in between presents a major challenge.

With Ramsey being afforded the opportunity to gel with teammates and the appropriate time to learn the scheme from newly appointed Defensive Coordinator Brandon Staley this offseason, it is fair to expect a rebound season from arguably the most talented cornerback in the league.

Now, that brings me to the discussion at hand: What should the Rams do with Ramsey?

The answer to that question is incredibly simple: pay him.

The Rams didn’t trade two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick without the intent to extend Ramsey. There isn’t really a question when it comes to paying Ramsey, the only decision to be made is when is the right time. Ramsey is currently slated to play on his fifth-year option from his rookie deal, costing the Rams $13.703m in 2020.

Much has been discussed about the lack of cap space the Rams currently have. They’re currently hovering around $20m in cap space (once Over The Cap updates the retirement of S Eric Weddle).

The lack of current cap space for the Rams is very relevant as it pertains to a potential contract extension for Ramsey. Not only would they be locking in a fantastic and young talent, but extending Ramsey would allow the Rams to actually lower his 2020 cap hit, opening up a rather significant amount of cap space for a team that’s currently cap-strapped.

According to Over The Cap, a Ramsey extension would actually free somewhere in the range of $10.3m. That figure may seem excessive, and I am no cap expert, but if the Rams save even half of the figure stated, the savings could be considered significant:

But, the positives to extending Ramsey don’t end there for the Rams. Another reason — and potentially even more important than opening some cap space — for the Rams to get the extension done as soon as possible is due to the number of quality cornerbacks slated to reach free agency, or receive their own extensions.

The list includes:
Denver Broncos CB Chris Harris Jr.
Tennessee Titans CB Logan Ryan
Houston Texans CB Bradley Roby
Baltimore Ravens CB Jimmy Smith
Dallas Cowboys CB Byron Jones
Kansas City Chiefs CB Kendall Fuller
Detroit Lions CB Darius Slay (entering last year of deal, potential trade and extension talks)

The list is quite loaded with high-end CB talent, giving the Rams even more motivation to ramp up extension talks with Ramsey, ideally hammering out a deal that works for both sides prior to the NFL’s free agency period (March) opening up. If the Rams do elect to wait (or Ramsey’s camp does), the price tag could very well continue to rise with the CB market sure to be reset by one of the aforementioned studs reaching the open market.

Currently, the highest paid CB in the league is Miami Dolphins’ Xavien Howard. Howard received a five-year $75.25m (15.05m APY) extension with $46m in guarantees nearly one year ago. Ramsey’s next deal is sure to eclipse all of those marks, potentially coming in around $16-17m APY and $50m+ in guarantees.

With all of these extenuating factors hovering above the heads of the Rams, General Manager Les Snead (and right hand man Vice President Tony Pastoors) have to be motivated in securing a long-term deal for Jalen Ramsey. One thing to note: a lot of talking goes on between NFL teams and agents (and in turn players) at the NFL Scouting Combine. The combine is a playground notorious for sparking the fire between the two sides at the negotiation table.

Keep your eyes on a potential record-setting extension on the horizon for Jalen Ramsey and the Rams.

 

[Akrasian]

I would expect any extension to take effect for 2021, even if he gets a ginormous signing bonus this year, so that the cap hit won't affect 2020. Alternatively, renegotiate to a very small salary for 2020 with a big signing bonus so that it doesn't actually affect his cap hit for this season, maybe even reducing it.

 

[So Ram]

RAMsey just needs to get signed!! Don’t know how The Rams can’t do it ??

 

[snackdaddy]

Would be a colossal failure to let him walk next offseason. After giving up two first round picks for him. They have to find a way to get it done.

 

[rams1fan]

The time to extend Ramsey was before they traded for him.

 

[Merlin]

I will be very upset if he enters the season unsigned.

 

[FrantikRam]

As others have noted, he needs to be signed and it's a simple conversation: highest paid CB in the NFL.

What I'm more interested in is what the repercussions will be. Goff/Gurley/Cooks are all worse at their positions than Fowler, Littleton and Rodger Saffold.

That's potentially three better players being let go because we either mistimed or flat out made a mistake handing out these extensions.

I would have let Gurley go and waited on Goff. Cooks was the only one I agreed with, although I thought it was too much.

Ramsey I'll agree with - but because of these other missteps, we will likely lose another good/great player (Kupp or JJ).

 

[den-the-coach]

Ramsey will be extended...You know it, I know it and the American People know it.

 

[Merlin]

As others have noted, he needs to be signed and it's a simple conversation: highest paid CB in the NFL.

What I'm more interested in is what the repercussions will be. Goff/Gurley/Cooks are all worse at their positions than Fowler, Littleton and Rodger Saffold.

That's potentially three better players being let go because we either mistimed or flat out made a mistake handing out these extensions.

I would have let Gurley go and waited on Goff. Cooks was the only one I agreed with, although I thought it was too much.

Ramsey I'll agree with - but because of these other missteps, we will likely lose another good/great player (Kupp or JJ).

I think if the Rams fix the OL there's a good chance Gurley goes back to earning a lot of that big check. There's a good chance Goff ends up being a bargain too. In fact I think that IS going to happen because Jared will have a strong bounceback season in 2020 behind said OL.

The outlier is Cooks, who was not the same guy post-concussion. Actually he hasn't been the same guy since the drop vs the Pats in the Super Bowl as well. But with him the Rams have a buyout after this season so his contract is not nearly as bad as it's being made out to be by certain media types.

Also if Cooks is terrible we have a depth wideout on the chart who the staff has called a "starter" since they drafted him. It will be his opportunity to prove that in his last season in horns. And if Cooks rebounds and has a strong season, the picture might change wrt options.

So IMO everything comes back to the OL. Fix that and 2/3 of the "bad contracts" people are calling the Rams out for might no longer be problems. One good year like that will change everything.

 

[Corbin]

This should of been hammered out before the trade. Period.

Now the Rams front office is like

View attachment 33990

 

[SWAdude]

Would be a colossal failure to let him walk next offseason. After giving up two first round picks for him. They have to find a way to get it done.

They have no choice now.

I think there may be a bit of relief that Ramsey feels like he wants to be a Ram.

 

[FrantikRam]

I think if the Rams fix the OL there's a good chance Gurley goes back to earning a lot of that big check. There's a good chance Goff ends up being a bargain too. In fact I think that IS going to happen because Jared will have a strong bounceback season in 2020 behind said OL.

The outlier is Cooks, who was not the same guy post-concussion. Actually he hasn't been the same guy since the drop vs the Pats in the Super Bowl as well. But with him the Rams have a buyout after this season so his contract is not nearly as bad as it's being made out to be by certain media types.

Also if Cooks is terrible we have a depth wideout on the chart who the staff has called a "starter" since they drafted him. It will be his opportunity to prove that in his last season in horns. And if Cooks rebounds and has a strong season, the picture might change wrt options.

So IMO everything comes back to the OL. Fix that and 2/3 of the "bad contracts" people are calling the Rams out for might no longer be problems. One good year like that will change everything.

For me, the fact that they need an OL that good confirms that they're bad contracts, period.

I wanted to make a comparison, so the NYG jumped right out at me. I checked on Football Outsiders, and my suspicion was confirmed:

Their OL was worse at both run and pass blocking according to Football Outsiders, yet Daniel Jones had a better season than Goff and Barkley had a better season than Gurley - and this is also going from arguably the best WR group in the Rams to the worst in the league in the Giants.

Yes, Football Outsiders is just one resource - but nobody has yet to show me one that paints the Rams OL as poorly as what Rams fans have been saying about it all year long.

 

[Merlin]

For me, the fact that they need an OL that good confirms that they're bad contracts, period.

I wanted to make a comparison, so the NYG jumped right out at me. I checked on Football Outsiders, and my suspicion was confirmed:

Their OL was worse at both run and pass blocking according to Football Outsiders, yet Daniel Jones had a better season than Goff and Barkley had a better season than Gurley - and this is also going from arguably the best WR group in the Rams to the worst in the league in the Giants.

Yes, Football Outsiders is just one resource - but nobody has yet to show me one that paints the Rams OL as poorly as what Rams fans have been saying about it all year long.

I'm not interested in convincing you that the Rams' OL was a problem last season. If you need that, you and I will never agree on anything related to our offense. It's all good, I don't mind seeing differing opinions.

If you are interested then note the impact of scheme on the OL protection numbers. That would be rollouts and moving pockets, screens, etc. In that late season game vs the 9ers the Rams looked pretty good statistically but watch the game and count the boots.

Next year if they fix the OL everyone's going to be all over McVay's nuts again. And Goff will be back to a system QB who benefits. And the media will probably crown Daniel Jones while he leads the Giants to 8 wins. But whatever I don't give a fuck about all that tbh.

 

[kurtfaulk]

For me, the fact that they need an OL that good confirms that they're bad contracts, period.

I wanted to make a comparison, so the NYG jumped right out at me. I checked on Football Outsiders, and my suspicion was confirmed:

Their OL was worse at both run and pass blocking according to Football Outsiders, yet Daniel Jones had a better season than Goff and Barkley had a better season than Gurley - and this is also going from arguably the best WR group in the Rams to the worst in the league in the Giants.

Yes, Football Outsiders is just one resource - but nobody has yet to show me one that paints the Rams OL as poorly as what Rams fans have been saying about it all year long.

yeah, the giants are such a good example.

that 4 and 12 record was so much better than the rams 9 and 7 record.

and the 341 points they put up is better than the 394 points the rams put up?

cooks is a shell of himself, so all these points were the result of woods and kupp?

.

 

[drasconis]

Not sure who Sosa Kremenjas (the author is), and I do not expect all writers to be cap experts, but his claim that they can take his cap hit from $13.7 mil down to $3.4 mil (he states they can "free somewhere in the range of $10.3m") in a new contract/extension is beyond stupid. Not sure how he even figured that to be possible.

I think a new deal will get done (partially because if not he might have those "back issues" resurface), but as several on here stated it will be with a similar or slightly lower cap hit (maybe save a few mil against cap this year, but not 10+).

If I am actually wrong on that please let me know how it would work.

 

[FrantikRam]

yeah, the giants are such a good example.

that 4 and 12 record was so much better than the rams 9 and 7 record.

and the 341 points they put up is better than the 394 points the rams put up?

cooks is a shell of himself, so all these points were the result of woods and kupp?

.

Yes?

I would hope having two WRs the caliber of Woods/Kupp would be worth at least 3 points per game? (which is what 51 points over a 16 game season amounts to)

Their record was worse, but again, their RB/QB both outperformed our RB/QB, with a worse offensive line.

I'm not saying our OL isn't an issue - it is - but to say that Gurley and Goff's contracts were anything but mistakes at this point is just blind love.

The OL can be bad AND Goff/Gurley can be bad too. That's what I saw last year.

 

[FrantikRam]

I'm not interested in convincing you that the Rams' OL was a problem last season. If you need that, you and I will never agree on anything related to our offense. It's all good, I don't mind seeing differing opinions.

If you are interested then note the impact of scheme on the OL protection numbers. That would be rollouts and moving pockets, screens, etc. In that late season game vs the 9ers the Rams looked pretty good statistically but watch the game and count the boots.

Next year if they fix the OL everyone's going to be all over McVay's nuts again. And Goff will be back to a system QB who benefits. And the media will probably crown Daniel Jones while he leads the Giants to 8 wins. But whatever I don't give a fuck about all that tbh.

I am aware that the OL was a problem.

But so were Goff and Gurley.

That's my overall point. And by design, any QB/RB that gets paid top dollar needs to be able to perform in less than ideal circumstances. Once they're paid, you lose the Rodger Saffolds of the world.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Yes?

I would hope having two WRs the caliber of Woods/Kupp would be worth at least 3 points per game? (which is what 51 points over a 16 game season amounts to)

Their record was worse, but again, their RB/QB both outperformed our RB/QB, with a worse offensive line.

I'm not saying our OL isn't an issue - it is - but to say that Gurley and Goff's contracts were anything but mistakes at this point is just blind love.

The OL can be bad AND Goff/Gurley can be bad too. That's what I saw last year.

i take umbrage at your claim that the giants line was worse than the rams. my eyes told me the rams oline was absolute trash. couldn't run block for shit, couldn't pass block for shit. goff had to perform miracles not to get sacked every drive. his stats don't show the whole picture. sure he made some horrible throws that led to some back breaking pick 6s but he was under the pump almost every dropback.

the only way mcvay could give goff any time at all was to move him around behind the line and that worked a treat in four of the last five games. we all saw what happened in the cowboys game when mcvay inexplicably went back to having goff stand in one spot and let the oline just try to block their man. he was under attack the whole game. no pocket qb can function like that.

i just checked the pff rankings and they had the giants as the 17th best oline and the rams 31st? which website is right? my eyes tell me which one is right.

.

 

[Merlin]

I am aware that the OL was a problem.

But so were Goff and Gurley.

That's my overall point. And by design, any QB/RB that gets paid top dollar needs to be able to perform in less than ideal circumstances. Once they're paid, you lose the Rodger Saffolds of the world.

Goff made a lot of mistakes in 2019. He's a young QB learning and btw he kept us in far more games with poor protections and no run game than he gave away.

Gurley was not himself either. In fact he didn't start running with efficiency until they gave him carries. Some of that was probably him sulking (I do think he does that) but also he missed a lot of holes when his carries were lower. Not exempting them by any means and in fact have discussed them in other threads ad nauseum.

But 6 times. That's how many seasons (not counting injured seasons) Brady has put up a passer rating less than 90. The truth here is that for pocket QBs protections matter more than they do for the mobile option types. There is no QB who consistently plays well with rushers in his face. That's a fallacy where fans nuke their own QB then see the highlights of the others and it forms a flawed opinion. Closest thing to that is Mahomes, who is a modern John Elway in that he scrambles to buy time and keeps his eyes downfield with a big and accurate arm.

Back to Goff though if you're building a roster is he your guy? For me he is because I nuked his season, rewatched a lot of terrible games (in terms of protections) and noted the positives he brings. I don't think one fan here, btw, is of the opinion that Goff had a great season or was a victim. He's a young QB who had more responsibility heaped on him in the protections, along with a bad OL, and wasn't ready to deal with it. But he fought and did a ton of good things man. So I take issue with these goddamn media fucks who want to pile on with him.