Total tear down to the studs and rebuild feel imminent

[FarNorth]

Don't be surprised if the Rams use a high draft pick for one of the top college QBs coming out after this year.

It would only be surprising if they didn't. They will need a good young QB on his first contract soon. Stafford could get hurt or retire at any time, but even so economics pretty much require a young team finding a young qb, not a $50m+ vet. Even with Rams free agent money next year imo you can't carry an expensive vet very long while rebuilding with a young team.

 

[dang]

And don’t be surprised if they use it for an edge rusher or a left tackle.

Edge will be a proven vet thru trade or FA.

 

[OntarioRam]

I think this year is toast in terms of actually being competitive for a wild card spot. I think the Rams might win more games than many people think. The o-line has lots of young players that by season's end I think could sneakily gel and develop into a very good unit, and the impact of that will be felt throughout the roster. 7+ wins. But a team with as little depth as the Rams can't afford to have the engine of the offense in Kupp missing significant time with an injury that lingers even when in the lineup.

The problem the Rams face is that it will likely take 2 years to turn this roster around. By then, are Kupp, Donald, and Stafford still elite and able to serve a the linchpins of your team? And if not, how do we replace them?

 

[oldnotdead]

I understand the rationale for the OL mix and match, but continuity breeds confidence and faster play. When each guy on the OL knows what the guy next to him will do it allows him to simply do his part from the snap and not overthink everything. That is what gelling is and it's real. Whether 2 weeks is enough to form that bond is debatable. That said I know they will play better each week. In a way I'm glad the start is rough. Nothing is like tempering your metal in the fire of top competition. If they can weather this first two months they will really be on their way to peaking in December and January.

I don't see AZ tanking for anyone but Maye who fits Gannon's offense to a tee. Whether the Rams take Caleb or Penix or whoever, I see them grabbing their next QB1 to play a year behind Stafford. I don't see Stafford as the QB1 on this team in 2025. I think that was the plan when they extended him and the Rams are sticking to it. I also see Stafford being good with it as his retirement with at least one ring.

Unlike some offensive schemes, the lynchpin is the QB. I'm not convinced that Purdy or Smith could lead this offense. It requires a strong armed QB with deep accuracy and ability to make full field reads, and the ability to go through his progressions quickly.

The Rams will be looking for a pocket passer with enough movement skills to extend the play. The pool of potential trade options for another vet QB is limited and a crap shoot. That's why I see them drafting their next QB as it gives them a 5 year window to develop and play him.

 

[Psycho_X]

Anyone panicking may shampoo my balls. GO RAMS

I think you've mistaken this for a 49er forum where such offers may be accepted.

 

[Faceplant]

I always love these convos where someone is like "player x will totally restructure their contract to give up 10s of millions of dollars for a chance to be traded to a team also struggling and we'd get a bunch of picks in return". It doesn't happen... ever.

Just curious, but who stated anything like THAT??? Yeah, that doesn't make sense at all. I said MS could restructure to go to a GOOD team ( Miami was mentioned) if they lose their starter to injury. I'm not a cap guru, but I would expect there would be a way to make it happen without him, or the Rams losing their ass, haha. It is entirely possible that I am wrong, however. I was wrong once in the 90s......so I'm due for another mistake.

 

[dieterbrock]

Just curious, but who stated anything like THAT??? Yeah, that doesn't make sense at all. I said MS could restructure to go to a GOOD team ( Miami was mentioned) if they lose their starter to injury. I'm not a cap guru, but I would expect there would be a way to make it happen without him, or the Rams losing their ass, haha. It is entirely possible that I am wrong, however. I was wrong once in the 90s......so I'm due for another mistake.

A restructure doesnt help the Rams at all.
Stafford received a 60 mill signing bonus, so there's 12 mill per year of dead money (for next 4 years including 2023). In addition, he converted 26 mill of his 2023 salary in to an option bonus, so his 2023 salary is only 1.5 mill though he received the 26 mill. Due to that, the Rams face an additional 6.5 mill per year of dead money (also for next 4 years including 2023).
So a team that in theory trades for him, would inherit what's left of the 1.5 mill salary for 2023 and the remaining 3 years, 90+ mill.
The Rams would take the hit of all that dead money, even if partial in 2023 and the rest in 2024
There's just no way around the 2024 hit of 55 mill, as he already received the $$$

 

[majrleaged]

When has anybody redone theiir deal mid season. Even if they could, The guarranted money is no different. It would all land in 24. They would gain nothing.

 

[Mojo Ram]

The usual suspects have arrived just in time for the GDT’s

 

[Faceplant]

The usual suspects have arrived just in time for the GDT’s

Yeah, I try to stay FAR away from those threads.....that shit is toxic.

 

[Merlin]

The question becomes at what point do we tank for Caleb Williams? Because that kid is generational.

We would need to sit Stafford for that to happen. Or he misses a lot of time. It's hard to imagine a McVay team losing the most games though.

 

[MachS]

We would need to sit Stafford for that to happen. Or he misses a lot of time. It's hard to imagine a McVay team losing the most games though.

Yea for sure. I wonder with a limited Kupp this year and the OL situation, will Stafford stay healthy?

We're in this weird limbo state trying to straddle the rebuild fence, and I can't see the long-term strategy. But if Stafford stays healthy this year we definitely aren't getting Caleb.

 

[Merlin]

Yea for sure. I wonder with a limited Kupp this year and the OL situation, will Stafford stay healthy?

We're in this weird limbo state trying to straddle the rebuild fence, and I can't see the long-term strategy. But if Stafford stays healthy this year we definitely aren't getting Caleb.

Yeah I think the plan is try to keep Stafford upright. If he has a strong season then you go get a cornerstone player with that top pick (LT, CB, or Edge) and take another shot at a QB at some point in the draft where you like one of them. My midround target as of now is the Notre Dame QB but do something similar and then you have a QB room with a couple undersized but intelligent high producers.

But then I feel like we should be developing and flipping backups with McVay. Which is easier said than done of course.

Speaking of cornerstone positions... Wideout is beginning to feel like one of them plus with McVay at the helm it is a possibility too for that first rounder. But if we end up in the upper half of round one there is also the chance one of the top QBs gets overnuked by the draft process insanity and drops to us in Marino/Rodgers fashion.

 

[MachS]

Yeah I think the plan is try to keep Stafford upright. If he has a strong season then you go get a cornerstone player with that top pick (LT, CB, or Edge) and take another shot at a QB at some point in the draft where you like one of them. My midround target as of now is the Notre Dame QB but do something similar and then you have a QB room with a couple undersized but intelligent high producers.

But then I feel like we should be developing and flipping backups with McVay. Which is easier said than done of course.

Speaking of cornerstone positions... Wideout is beginning to feel like one of them plus with McVay at the helm it is a possibility too for that first rounder. But if we end up in the upper half of round one there is also the chance one of the top QBs gets overnuked by the draft process insanity and drops to us in Marino/Rodgers fashion.

Yea the plan is always to keep him upright lol, but do we have the talent up front to do so? Can the running game keep us out of known passing situations? Can guys not named Kupp consistently get open?

If Staff balls out this year I'd LOVE to go WR next year and there are some monsters. Maybe we get lucky and guys like Avila and Puka become all pro type players immediately. But if the wheels fall off it's tough to see McVay staying for a 2-3 year full teardown. Just my opinion.

 

[Merlin]

Yea the plan is always to keep him upright lol, but do we have the talent up front to do so? Can the running game keep us out of known passing situations? Can guys not named Kupp consistently get open?

If Staff balls out this year I'd LOVE to go WR next year and there are some monsters. Maybe we get lucky and guys like Avila and Puka become all pro type players immediately. But if the wheels fall off it's tough to see McVay staying for a 2-3 year full teardown. Just my opinion.

I think the OL has solid starting quality. It's not like the roster looks undermanned like the DL. We're gonna need injuries to favor us this year of course but if that happens we should be ok. LT is probably the biggest factor too. If Jackson plays well we should have a good unit. Stafford is a different QB when he's sweating the backside rush, as the gambler in him comes out.

But either way as long as Stafford has a good season he's gonna be the default signal caller for us in 2024. So what feels appropriate to me is finding a QBotF to stick behind him. Which is why those guys are gonna be a big focus for me this season.

This is another really interesting QB class. There's some guys like say Riley Leonard who could rise big time. He's off to a great start with that big win over Clemson.

 

[Mackeyser]

8 of our 11 defensive starters are either rookies, drafted 6th round or later, or weren’t drafted at all. Maybe we get lucky and 3 or 4 of those guys pop, and we have something cooking. But if those guys turn out like most 6th round picks and undrafted players, this defense is going to give up points like it’s getting paid to.

That ignores all the data we have from joint practices where we showed up well 1s on 1s

No one knows what will happen in games but McVay is apparently on to something because increasingly the NFL is using preseason to evaluate the bottom half of the roster and using joint practices to evaluate top half

By that metric, we should be competitive at the very least.

 

[Mackeyser]

We have Hoecht (a try hard who made a few plays with no one having film on him at the end of season), and some young DEVELOPMENT guys.

If it works out like it did for them with OL the last few years.. it'll be piss poor.

LORD Byron Young is gonna be a STUD

I’m calling it.

 

[Mackeyser]

Edge will be a proven vet thru trade or FA.

I think Byron Young is gonna mitigate that need and if Anchrum holds up, it may come down to BPA on the FA market

 

[Soul Surfer]

It's pretty obvious what the game plan is here and it's pretty simple.
See if you can take a couple years and build another Super Bowl team around our three stars.
As long as all three stars are IN and we do some better development, drafting and scouting?
It's worth a shot.
OVERALL!?!
I like the plan.

 

[Soul Surfer]

Edge will be a proven vet thru trade or FA.

That has been the plan so far with mcsnead.

Pair a energetic youngster up with a proven vet.

It looked pretty good in that Super Bowl.