4 yr 64 million

Bummer

Not sure how to post link, so took a screenshot.

I’m even trying to list them in order of priority, more or less.

Center- gotta be FA, don’t you think? At least a 1 year placeholder while they draft a C (hopefully Meinerz). Myself, I’d shoot for the stars with Linsley with a creative 5 year contract. Center problem totally solved for 5 wonderful years (like Whitworth solved our LOT problem for 5 wonderful, although expensive, years).

Edge- At least one Edge must be a FA vet, don’t you think? The next hungry guy in the Fowler/Floyd series that wants to enhance his resume while playing with AD. Extending Floyd might be a baseless rumor, so I’m certainly not counting on that, but there are many others that could come in and really help.

Edge- Yes, a 2nd Edge is needed since our current bench cannot be counted upon, really. This one should be a pick, though. An early one, at that.

LOT- A draft pick only. As early as our 57 if one falls there. If not, then when he meets the BPA criteria. LOT could become a screaming need as early as next year, sooooo...

Those are my biggest ‘needs’ currently and receive the very highest priorities.

But wait, there are more needs. Lol. Just not quite as high of a priority, IMO.

ILB. Yeah, Rams can make do with Howard and one other, but wouldn’t it be nice if an affordable FA fell into our lap, or later in the draft? I’m guessing that the Rams and particularly Morris are on the lookout for an affordable gem to pair with Howard inside. Call it a hunch. Not exactly a ‘need’, but kinda.

‘Vertical WR’. Many others think this is a higher priority than I do. I’m of the opinion that we are at least 3 deep with quality WR’s that can get open and Stafford will find and hit them just fine. But it sounds like Snead is interested in adding a vertical WR, so what do I know? If he does, I sure hope it’s a pick rather than an expensive FA.

TE just might be a bit of a need, depending on how Rams really feel about Hopkins’ future. I mean, Hopkins didn’t exactly blow the doors off, did he? And Everett is surely a goner.

CB is not a real need at present, but could be by next year. So Snead is almost certain to use a later pick on someone they like for their 17th consecutive secondary gem. Lol.

Beyond the above, I see Snead building for depth now and simultaneously for future needs, just as he’s been doing for several years. BPA for future needs has been a very successful formula, indeed.

To recap. I consider a C and Edge as ‘must haves’. A 2nd Edge is borderline must have, IMO. All others are relatively strong wants of varying degrees. If Rams can bring home a strong C and one Edge I will consider this a very good start to a possibly strong offseason.

Your thoughts?

Figured since I made an impulse drunk purchase of a PFF subscription I’d try to get my money’s worth and share with guys who may not have it. Here’s how our new Franchise QB performed under pressure in 2020. I alluded to this a bit in my last thread that teams will have to be more opportunistic when blitzing against us in 2021 and not mindlessly call blitzes and the numbers seem to support that notion a bit. Stafford posted a 63.3 completion percentage when blitzed and only threw 2 ints while under pressure both of which are very encouraging IMO.

It seems it has been fairly quiet for the Rams Free Agents News/Updates lately BUT I am thinking/hoping that will change today!!!

I am hoping to get some news on Rams signing some of their key Free Agents to long term contracts and hopefully restructuring some other key players current contracts to free up some salary cap money! Of Course, I could be very Disappointed!

I do think today could get very interesting for all us Rams Fans!!!

Saints QB Drew Brees announces retirement

The game's most prolific passer of all-time is calling it a career.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, whose 80,358 yards passing stand as the most in the history of the NFL, is retiring after 20 seasons.

Following a lengthy wait after the end of the Saints' season, Brees announced his retirement Sunday via social media.

Around The NFL will have more shortly.

Here are a few of my thoughts.

Rams are definitely cap strapped and yet they may find an actual windfall of above normal FA’s that they can actually utilize. Hear me out, please.

Here’s what I mean.

If Rams are going all out to create cap room via restructuring and a possible shrewd trade or two like Brockers and/or Hav, then a modest amount of cap dollars could be created to pounce on limited bargains. That’s Step One. And it’s certain that the Rams are at least pursuing the restructuring strategy.

Now comes Step Two, potentially. Most ‘experts’ seem to feel that there will be a glut of vets made available because of forced “Covid-cap’ cuts. Many more than in a normal year, anyway. So, if Rams keep their powder dry in the early days of FA frenzy, which they will most likely have to do in any case, then they will find some higher than normal quality Vets in a pool sitting there for some juicy (and very affordable) 1 year contracts at positions of Ram need. I’m talking C, Edge, ILB, maybe a TE?

Let’s carry this working theory forward to a potential Step 3. What if several of these above normal year average talented FA’s are inclined to agree to rather ‘creative’ back loaded contracts to ensure their financial security for the next 5 or so years? If they do then it’s a win-win for player and club!

Wouldn’t it be ironic if the cap cash strapped Rams actually were able to pick up a bumper crop of quality FA’s this year? I’m thinking it could actually happen. If a trade or 2 of a Brockers or Hav could also come together for either picks or players, then that would be the cherry on top. This could be a HR caliber offseason that fans could be talking about for years. It’s really a supply and demand thing, don’t you think?

It would merely require a very few dominoes to fall AND a very smart and ballsy Ram FO.

Thoughts?

Free agency starts tomorrow. I am curious what you all think. List 1 foregone conclusion and at least 1 underrated move you might see the Rams take. Pipe dreams are allowed. The more realistic the better.

Foregone conclusion- Everett and Johnson are signed away immediately.

Underrated signing everyone will hate at first( similar to Woods signing years ago) WR John Ross on a 2 year deal.

Surprise cuts or trades- Jake Mcquaid cut and Brockers traded for a 5th
Bonus- Blythe is extended in the 5 million range but are starting center is on our roster, not named Blythe

Looking at off-season priorities for teams in our division...

The Rams appear more set than other teams in our division at RB. Akers and Henderson... young and both can start. We just need to refine and compliment.

What about the others in the NFCW?

Carson, Penny, and Mosart can’t stay healthy. Seattle is not picking up Penny’s option. Carson is a free agent. Mosart is 29, has 1 year left, finished last year on IR.

Kenyan Drake is a nice player, but not exactly a scary guy. I liked Benjamin last year coming out... but he’s not seen the field. Not a good sign.

What do you see?

We seem well ahead of others in our division heading into FA and the draft.

LA RAMS

23 Cam Akers RB 5-10 217 6/22/1999 (21) R Florida State
34 Malcolm Brown RB 5-11 222 5/15/1993 (27) 5 Texas
35 Xavier Jones RB 5-11 208 8/24/1997 (23) R SMU

Also, Darrell Henderson

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

32 Chris Carson RB 5-11 222 9/16/1994 (26) 4 Oklahoma State
31 DeeJay Dallas RB 5-10 217 9/16/1998 (22) R Miami (FL)
30 Carlos Hyde RB 6-0 229 9/20/1990 (30) 7 Ohio State
20 Rashaad Penny RB 5-11 220 2/2/1996 (25) 3 San Diego State
44 Nick Bellore FB 6-1 250 5/12/1989 (31) 10 Central Michigan

ARIZONA CARDINALS

26 Eno Benjamin RB 5-9 207 4/13/1999 (21) R Arizona State
41 Kenyan Drake RB 6-1 211 1/26/1994 (27) 5 Alabama
29 Chase Edmonds RB 5-9 210 4/13/1996 (24) 3 Fordham
37 D.J. Foster RB 6-0 205 11/22/1993 (27) 5 Arizona State
38 Jonathan Ward RB 6-0 202 9/30/1997 (23) R Central Michigan

SAN FRANCISCO 49’ERS

26 Tevin Coleman RB 6-1 210 4/16/1993 (27) 6 Indiana
28 Jerick McKinnon RB 5-9 205 5/3/1992 (28) 7 Georgia Southern
48 Austin Walter RB 5-8 202 8/17/1996 (24) 1 Rice
30 Jeff Wilson RB 6-0 213 11/16/1995 (25) 3 North Texas
44 Kyle Juszczyk FB 6-1 235 4/23/1991 (29) 8 Harvard

Also, Raheem Mosart

Rams' salary-cap challenges could have big effect on free agency plans

For the second year in a row, the Rams are preparing for a free-agent exodus of key players on defense — and strategizing about how they might be replaced.

On Monday, when the NFL’s so-called legal tampering period begins 48 hours before the start of free agency, representatives for safety John Johnson, edge rusher Leonard Floyd and cornerback Troy Hill will be fielding offers from suitors positioned to outbid the Rams.

Defensive linemen Morgan Fox and Derek Rivers, linebacker Samson Ebukam, running back Malcolm Brown, tight end Gerald Everett, receiver Josh Reynolds, offensive lineman Austin Blythe and long snapper Jake McQuaide also are pending unrestricted free agents.

Last season, in the days leading up to the NFL’s new league year, Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers and linebackers Dante Fowler and Cory Littleton agreed to contracts with other teams. Brockers returned to the Rams after his deal with the Baltimore Ravens collapsed. But last year’s departures might have portended a trend for a defense that in 2020 ranked among the NFL’s best under coordinator Brandon Staley, now coach of the Chargers.

Last Wednesday, when the NFL set the salary cap at $182.5 million, the Rams were $33.1 million over the limit — the most of any team — according to overthecap.com.

The Rams’ problematic situation was created, in part, by dead money hits for the release of running back Todd Gurley before last season and the January trade of quarterback Jared Goff for quarterback Matthew Stafford. The NFL, unlike the NBA and Major League Baseball, does not provide a mechanism to exceed the salary cap by allowing teams to pay a luxury tax. All NFL teams must be under the cap by Wednesday at 1 p.m. PDT.

The Rams will try to get under the cap by restructuring contracts of such top-earning players as defensive lineman Aaron Donald, cornerback Jalen Ramsey and receivers Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods. General manager Les Snead and vice president Tony Pastoors also have almost certainly been in restructure discussions with such players as Brockers and offensive linemen Andrew Whitworth and Rob Havenstein, who might otherwise be candidates for release in a year when the cap fell nearly $16 million from 2020 because of revenue losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s evolving. It’s changing. It’s unprecedented,” Snead said of operating in a year when the cap decreased. “This is tougher. So, I think all of us have been willing to somewhat make sacrifices, somewhat think out of the box, that wouldn’t necessarily normally occur in a normal year.”

High-salaried veteran players across the league are similarly vulnerable to release, so this year’s free-agent class is expected to expand daily as teams shed contracts to get under the cap.

The Rams are not expected to be major players in the first wave of free agency, which could be marked by an increase in one-year contracts as players and teams hedge their bets that the cap will increase in 2022 and beyond.

Along with perusing available talent on defense, the Rams could shop for a receiver.

Stafford displayed proven ability to complete longer passes during 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions. While Kupp and Woods are productive mid-range receivers, coach Sean McVay acknowledged after the season that the Rams lacked a legitimate deep threat. The offense produced few of the long plays — “explosives,” as McVay describes them — that characterized the offense in 2017 and 2018.

“When you have to go 12, 15-play drives consistently, your margin for error is so small,” McVay said. “The level of competition is just so great that you have to be able to find ways to continuously create explosives, give yourself a little bit of margin for error, that it’s not always taking that many plays to produce points in this league.”

Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones, who played with Stafford in Detroit last season, are among receivers in a free-agent class that includes former USC star JuJu Smith-Schuster, former Ram Sammy Watkins, T.Y. Hilton, A.J. Green, Will Fuller and DeSean Jackson among others. But the Rams are not expected to spend big at the position.

Blythe, who was a pending unrestricted free agent in 2020, signed a one-year contract before last season and subsequently solidified his opportunity for a long-term deal with solid play. If Blythe moves on, the Rams might turn to fourth-year pro Brian Allen, who was sidelined nearly all last season because of a 2019 knee injury. Or the Rams could sign a free agent or draft a center.

But every scenario has unknowns, Snead said.

“The key that what we don’t necessarily know with Brian is … how will he play post-injury?” Snead said, adding, “Because it’s such a nuanced position of almost being the second QB on the field, it’s hard just to project a rookie can do it.

“It’s even hard just to project a player that may be with another NFL team can do it just because they will still have to learn our system and still at that point have to quickly process football within our system.”

Hey guys,

I wrote up this argument for why Holt is deserving to head to the Hall of Fame.

https://highceilingsports.blog/2021/03/10/time-for-torry-holt-to-head-to-the-hall/

I think it's about time he gets recognized for being the all-time great that he was!

I'm here to tell you that the Rams are so F*CKED for the next few years!!!



SIKE!

I'm just here to tell y'all that I appreciate you all and really enjoy this place!

Rams are winning the Super Bowl in the next 3 years with Stafford!!

*Cracks open another Busch Light*

Cheers y'all! Enjoyed your Saturday and be safe!!

Stumbled upon this article in my Google feed. Figured you fellas might like to weigh in. Sounds like a flurry of moves are coming.

Food talk y'all!

What type of food is your favorite? Nationality or regional or just meat type I guess.

For me...I really enjoy southern style cooking. I like fried meats and buttery veggies. I love BBQ and iced tea.

If I had to choose a nationality, I would have to say Italian. As long as it's not a white sauce, I'm game. I love the Italian flavors...capers, sun dried tomatoes, tomato sauce, herbs....mmmm

Rams have plenty of cap space to clear

Not long ago, the Saints had the worst 2021 salary cap situation in the league. But the Saints systematically have chipped away their excess cap dollars. Currently, the Rams have the worst cap situation.

Via spotrac.com, the Rams exceed the 2021 cap by more than $32 million. G.M. Les Snead has said that the Rams will try to get in line with the cap by restructuring contracts, not cutting players.

The candidates for a simple restructuring, which entails converting 2021 compensation items into a signing bonus and spreading the cap charges out over multiple years, are obvious. The Rams have only 11 players due to make $2.5 million or more in 2021.

Those are the guys who likely will be asked to agree to a reshuffling of cash that gives them the same money now, but that drops their cap number in the current year.

The candidates for a restructuring are: defensive tackle Aaron Donald ($19.982 million salary); cornerback Jalen Ramsey ($17.5 million salary),

quarterback Matthew Stafford ($19.5 million compensation); receiver Cooper Kupp ($13 million compensation);

receiver Robert Woods ($12.5 million compensation); tackle Andrew Whitworth ($9.5 million compensation);

defensive lineman Michael Brockers ($8 million compensation); tackle Rob Havenstein ($6.75 million salary);

tight end Tyler Higbee ($6.5 million compensation); punter Johnny Hekker ($3.75 million salary);

defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson ($2.75 million compensation).

A restructuring, obviously, kicks cap dollars into future years. At some point, there will be a reckoning.

Of all years, however, this is the year to consider moving cap dollars out of 2021. The cap is down now, it will go up later.

However the Rams do it, they’ve got four days to figure it all out.

Rams have plenty of cap space to clear originally appeared on Pro Football Talk

Rams have plenty of cap space to clear (msn.com)

Oh yeah! Football!

Sick highlights.

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Pre-Free Agency Position Overview: Tight End

The calendar has turned to March, which means the start of the new league year – March 17, 1 p.m. pacific time – and free agency isn't far away.

Ahead of this pivotal time in the offseason, theRams.com will be breaking down the team's roster with an overview of the players currently under contract and those who are scheduled to become free agents.

The series continues with a look at the tight ends:

Under contract

• Tyler Higbee: Posted 44 receptions for 521 yards and five touchdowns while playing in 15 games last season. His five touchdowns were second-most among Rams receivers.
• Brycen Hopkins: Fourth-round pick was active for just five games as a rookie and primarily contributed on special teams in his first season.
• Kendall Blanton: Spent his second season with the Rams on their practice squad.

Scheduled to become a free agent

• Gerald Everett (unrestricted – Free Agent Spotlight): Tallied 41 catches for 417 yards and one touchdown while playing in all 16 games, maintaining his career double-digit yards per reception average.
• Johnny Mundt (restricted): Primarily contributed on special teams, but stepped up in place of an injured Higbee with three receptions for 47 yards in a Monday Night Football win over the Bears. Collected four receptions for 53 yards overall while playing in all 16 games. Since Mundt is a restricted free agent, the Rams have the ability to tender him a contract and secure right of first refusal for any offer he receives from another team.

March 13th




-------------------------------------------------
Starting to get nervous that our players are either unwilling to restructure or that Snead is trying to cut cap in a different way. I would have thought we would have cleared cap space before free agency opens which I know we still have time but we are cutting it close.

Not sure what to title this concept so went with the above. This is something that's been bubbling in my mind for a while, the basic idea that paying players introduces its own risk, the risk of money rotting the competitive hunger of said players. And this is not some rare thought or anything I realize but it's also not something that is typically looked at on its own merits. Typically these things are viewed on a case by case basis and by doing things like analyzing where they went wrong on scheme fit, injury history, etc.

What I wonder about, though, is to what extent teams are aware of these numbers and how they strategize to overcome them. For example in citing the above if you were to say paying players results in let's say a 40% Quit Rate, which would be the percentage that players say fuck it I'm paid, I've arrived, homey's gonna take it easy now. I'm sure teams have those numbers. And how do those numbers equate to the other major sports. I would think those percentages are pretty close btw, even in different sports, because you're dealing with human nature. But they would be interesting to see that's for sure. No idea what the rate actually is either. But I do suspect it's quite high and as a result teams have to be focused on this stuff as a matter of self preservation. Do they go into background elements in a guy's history and draw parallels after the fact in terms of finding the "why" the signing went wrong, i.e. trying to unearth connections that might give them insight into avoiding them later?

Also what about guys who are coming off a big paycheck. Some of them will be the types who fell into Quit Rate. Of those Quit Rate types how many bounce back once they're back under a regular contract. Is there a potential sweet spot there like you see with Head Coaches who fall back to coordinator positions (where they tend to do very well as coordinators). Probably not. But I think about stupid shit like this lol.

Or how about guys who are pissed about their draft position. Let's say guys who fall in the draft well below where they KNOW they should have gone. Do they have a higher Success Rate? Of that group do they produce more Hall types? The only way to know this stuff would be through having access to some inside information that only teams and families and college teams know but it's still interesting to me.

Right now the Rams are viewed as a contender. For contenders there will be a type that just wants to jump onboard for a free ride to a championship. How do you identify them? Not all will have tells or do they. Or do most. Anyway I'm obviously bored here and judging from the length of this drinking way too much coffee lol.

Posted by Mike Florio on March 13, 2021, 11:59 AM EST










Getty Images


When Rams owner Stan Kroenke hosts the first Super Bowl at his new stadium in California next February, he’ll also be dealing with the biggest potential mess associated with the relocation of his team.
Via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a Missouri judge said this week that he plans to start the trial of the lawsuit filed by St. Louis against the Rams on January 10, 2022. The Super Bowl, assuming a seventeenth regular-season game, will happen on February 13, 2022.

The delay in the trial date (October had been the target) arises from guidelines regarding the reopening of courts and the presence of jurors, given the ongoing pandemic. The trial is expected to last two months.
The first step will be finding a proper jury.
“I think it’s going to be a challenge here to get a jury panel that can be fair and impartial,” NFL lawyer Jerry Carmody told the judge during a recent hearing.
“I agree getting a jury in this case is going to be the most difficult part about this trial,” Judge Christopher McGraugh conceded, adding that he plans to use detailed questionnaires to help spot potential biases in advance of the formal questioning of potential jurors.
The lawsuit, in which the plaintiffs apparently will try to recover more than $1 billion in damages, argues that the league and the Rams violated internal relocation procedures in authorizing the return of the Rams to Los Angeles, more than 20 years after St. Louis lured the Rams from L.A.
Although the broader jury pool surely consists of disgruntled Rams fans who would love to stick it to Stan, the reality is that there are plenty of non-football fans, in every market. Indeed, fewer than 100 million Americans watched this year’s Super Bowl, even though the country has more than 350 million people in it. Indeed, the best threshold question for any and all prospective jurors would be whether they watched all or part of Super Bowl XXXIV, Super Bowl XXXVI, and/or Super Bowl LIII, each of which featured the Rams. If the answer is no as to each of those three Super Bowls, it’s safe to say the person wasn’t and isn’t a Rams fan.
For the lawyers defending the Rams and the NFL, however, it’s important to start building the “unfair jury” angle as a potential excuse to be used later. If/when lawyers lose at trial, there’s a natural reluctance to attribute the outcome to their own mistakes and to focus instead on the notion that the jury was biased, the judge wasn’t fair, and/or the system is corrupt.

I know this is the biggest position being talked about, but if you look back in the draft, centers (and OL as a whole) just aren't valued the same. For a position group that always have 5 players. I went back and looked at how many centers and other OL were taken in each draft. Bold = first round pick.

2010:


2011:


2012:


2013:


2014:


2015:


2016:


2017:


2018:


2019:


2020:


What I find interesting is that based on the number of centers and OL as a whole, they aren't nearly as valuable as the internet makes them out to be. By far the top 3 positions taken each year are corner, linebacker, and receiver. No more than 10 centers go each year. Just doesn't appear to be a high target position.

What I found is most centers are taken late or go undrafted and teams will make do what they have. Just a hunch the Rams to be taking a center @ 57. Maybe with one of their 3rd comp picks if they find one, but even then it's a long shot.

Look at OTs and OGs, too. Averaging about 20 for OT and 13 for OG. And factor in each team needs two. Its very diluted.

Just some thoughts to remember come April and they take a WR or something @ 57.

5

We can expect 5 more solid seasons from Stafford.

Maybe more.... but I got to looking at the career arc’s of the most recent great QB’s. You can argue my method, because I am speaking in generalizations here....

Looking with blurry vision at their careers....

Both Payton Manning and Matt Stafford starting putting up consistently productive numbers at age 23. Seen in the blue upward bars.

Brady about age 25. His accession is represented in maroon.

Brees, Rivers, and Roethlisberger all about age 27. They started playing their best then. These players share the grey bars upward.

All of these QB’s were studs overlapping age 27-37. Wide stretch of grey below.

About 37... a few start to taper off. Represented by grey bars going downward.

Brees played solid longer, IMO. Age 39. His desent represented in gold.

Brady probably even further, but you could argue where. About 41, maybe. He is still going so who knows.

Anyway... Stafford is 33... if he matches the shortest, but also most likely curve... we should see 5 solid seasons up to age 37.

No science. Just approximate.