on the 1/26 snead interview

Jared Goff, new staff, free agency — What did we learn from Rams GM Les Snead?

Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/2345492/2021/01/26/les-snead-jared-goff-rams-quarterback/

If you thought Rams general manager Les Snead would make more of a definitive statement about the future of quarterback Jared Goff than the non-committal prose offered by head coach Sean McVay last week, you thought wrong.

“Jared Goff is a Ram at this moment,” Snead said on Tuesday. “It’s way too early to speculate (on) the future. That’s a beautiful mystery.”

The phrase “at this moment” sounds a lot like the now-infamous “Jared is our quarterback right now” answer uttered by McVay after the Rams were eliminated by the Packers in the divisional round on Jan. 16.

So, sure. Goff is the Rams’ quarterback, right now.

“What’s the date?” Snead added. “January 26th. So, that’s a fact. That’s obvious.”

Snead was fair in his assessment of Goff, as was McVay. Goff is a former No. 1 overall draft pick who helped the Rams reach the Super Bowl in 2018, who completed a career-high 67 percent of his passes in 2020 (while also attempting the lowest air yards per attempt, thus forcing a higher-probability completion rate) and who is second in quarterback wins since being paired with McVay in 2017 (I’d argue that wins aren’t a good way to measure a quarterback, but OK). Goff also has been riddled with turnover issues since the start of 2019 (38 in 31 regular-season starts) and has been at the helm of an offense that, because a number of reasons (not all related to Goff), was the ninth-most inconsistent unit in the NFL in 2020 and ranked No. 18 in scoring.

Neither Snead nor McVay is likely to either commit to Goff or de-commit in a public way during the offseason, people with knowledge of their messaging process believe. Why not? A columnist asked Snead point-blank: Why not cap a summer of questioning right here and now, on this Zoom call, by saying one thing or the other?

“In this job,” Snead said, “you’re always going to get questions.”

In all likelihood, the internal conversations already have been had. Goff isn’t sitting there doomscrolling on Twitter like the rest of us. He’s been briefed on his situation — or at least the messaging — because the Rams are at the point of openly projecting their intention to keep their options open.

If you have been paying even one smidgen of attention to this situation, you also understand that Goff’s contract, for at least the next two seasons, is difficult — though not impossible — to get out of.

Here’s the rundown of the dead-cap hit the Rams would retain in regard to cutting or trading Goff this offseason, according to Over The Cap:

Pre-June 1 cut: $62.525 million
Post-June 1 cut: $50.152 million in 2021, $15.4 million in 2022
Pre-June 1 trade: $22.2 million
Post-June 1 trade: $6.8 million in 2021, $15.4 million in 2022
Difficult, but not impossible.

That’s no news flash to Snead, who, when pressed on the weight of the contract as it pertains to possible movement of Goff, recounted the obvious a bit drily.

“Moving on from Jared Goff, that’s – the money we’ve invested in him, that’s not easy to overcome,” he said. “This is a cap-based system. … Anything can be done in a cap-based system. Anything can be done. I think you all have seen that occur in the NFL…

“With a cap-based system, you can move money around, allocate it to different positions, different players, things like that. But with that, there’s always going to be a yin and a yang and a sacrifice somewhere.”

I do not underestimate the creativity with which the Rams could operate financially, if they indeed are set on moving Goff. This is the team that simulated the economics of a COVID-19 “opt-out” season for defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson, after all, but we also can’t rule out Goff’s presence on the roster next fall. The clear message here is, “We don’t want to show our work just yet, and that’s because there are a few ways this thing could play out.”

Goff’s status wasn’t the only topic Snead covered in his wide-ranging, 60-minute interview with reporters on Tuesday.

Here are some other notable takeaways:

Andrew Whitworth’s future

We have a little more clarity about the future of left tackle Andrew Whitworth.

Snead said that Whitworth informed the Rams that he plans to be back in 2021, and added that they’d love to have Whitworth back. But there are some variables still to discuss, including whether Whitworth, who turned 39 in December, feels he can handle a 17-plus-game season.

Reading the tea leaves, though, it sounds like another factor will be Whitworth’s cap number, which sits at approximately $11 million for next season. The Rams might not be able to afford that, as much as they want the veteran left tackle back in their starting lineup. In Whitworth’s favor is his standout presence on the field and in the locker room, plus a clear lack of an answer at the position behind him. On the Rams’ side of it, a need to get a new guy into the lineup and properly developed for a future without Whitworth, plus that financial strain, might be bullet points in the discussion.

Whitworth tore his MCL and PCL in the Rams’ Week 10 win against Seattle, and was informed by team doctors that the normal recovery time would be 16 weeks. However, Whitworth returned in eight weeks with doctors’ approval and indicated after the Rams’ divisional-round loss that he did so knowing that by playing at less than 100 percent, he might be sacrificing certain negotiating leverage.

“It was about more than just me. It was about our football team,” he said. “It was about, ‘I know what I mean to these guys,’ and how important it was for me to be in that huddle with them. So I had to make the decision that maybe (could affect) my personal career, (affect) what someone is going to say about how you perform or don’t perform.

“Being out there with my guys was more important. And so to me, making that decision, going through that, all of those things just made me more invigorated to get out there with them again. Hopefully, things work out personally, and with the team, for me to be back.”

Whitworth also has a potential out clause in his contract after 2021, so the coming season could be a way to finish his tenure on his terms, unencumbered by the stress and limitations from the injury he faced this season.

More on Raheem Morris, Joe DeCamillis hires

Last week, the Rams hired two new coordinators — their fourth and fifth such hires in 13 months — in defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis.

The Rams had a hole to fill after Brandon Staley’s departure. Given Morris’ ability as a teacher and coach, and his longtime relationship with McVay that now spans three different coaching staffs, McVay moved toward hiring him immediately after Staley accepted the Chargers’ head coaching job.

Team sources told me that the Rams hope to retain much of the defensive system, which resulted in the NFL’s top-ranked unit in many categories (including total defense), and that Morris would incorporate his own wrinkles and designs. Snead confirmed as much on Tuesday.

“I think Sean has a vision to keep the DNA of the scheme that Brandon implemented, that’s kind of been innovated, created and evolved through Vic Fangio,” Snead said. “We have coaches who know it and can keep that in-house. Raheem will learn it a little bit, but I know he will bring some derivatives from Tampa, from Seattle, with Dan Quinn in Atlanta. So, this is how all these schemes evolve when everyone starts mixing the ingredients together.”

Meanwhile, the Rams’ special teams unit ranked No. 30 in the NFL in DVOA last season under one-year coordinator John Bonamego, so a hire was imminent and necessary. Snead has a long familiarity with DeCamillis, he said, and Bonamego will continue on in a consulting/advisory role.

Snead admitted that some of the struggles on special teams, in terms of personnel identification and system, were due to his and McVay’s limitations in that area, something they hope to rectify under DeCamillis.

“He’s been in the game a very long time, brings experience, and I think that’s something that Sean was definitely looking for for that special teams role,” Snead said.

“It’s interesting that Sean’s a head coach, I’m a general manager, but special teams is like a foreign language. Those guys speak languages that Sean and I don’t speak. So … it feels good, it feels right, when you know you can get in the bunker with people and know that (if) you have your back turned that they know what they’re doing, they’re competent in what they’re doing.”

Salary-cap situation, free agents

The Rams have been working through free agency numbers and probabilities with the idea that the 2021 salary-cap ceiling will drop to $175 million, Snead said. That allows them a bit of flexibility should the league announce a higher number this spring.

The Rams are not expected to bring back tight end Gerald Everett or receiver Josh Reynolds, two pending free agents, and are unlikely to bring back running back Malcolm Brown or outside linebacker Samson Ebukam, although that could change into the spring.

But the market for players such as safety John Johnson, outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, cornerback Troy Hill and defensive lineman Morgan Fox remains intriguing. That’s especially true with Staley being hired to coach the Chargers and Rams director of college scouting Brad Holmes being hired as Detroit’s general manager. Plus, Holmes will be joined by well-respected Rams cornerbacks coach Aubrey Pleasant, who accepted a job as the Lions’ secondary coach.

Snead said that, given the $175 million estimation of the cap ceiling, the Rams have a configuration that would allow them to retain every player they want to keep (yes, including Johnson and Floyd). But — and it’s a massive but — that likely includes numbers under market value for Johnson and Floyd, who will test the free-agency market and could find higher offers elsewhere, particularly from cap-freer teams like the Chargers or Lions.

“If they test the market and get a salary that’s higher than the number we plugged into that Excel spreadsheet, it then becomes a calculus problem at that point,” Snead said. “‘OK, wait a minute, if we meet this player’s market value, we may lose another player, and things like that. So you’re always going to walk through those scenarios that will probably happen a little bit in real time when you do go to that 72-, 48-hour window of (free-agent) negotiation.”

As I have reported, the Rams plan to tender a contract to starting cornerback Darious Williams and don’t plan to get out-matched by another team.

Personnel positions to be filled

The Rams lost Holmes, who subsequently hired Rams pro personnel director Ray Agnew to be his assistant general manager.

Snead said that those roles will be filled “immediately,” likely by internal candidates, adding that he has talked with Ray Farmer about coming back to a full-time role with the team in some capacity.

Farmer was a consultant for the Rams in 2020 (and a mentor in their scouting apprenticeship program). Farmer was the Browns’ general manager in 2014-15, their assistant general manager in 2013, the Chiefs’ director of pro personnel from 2006-12 and scouted for the Falcons from 2002-05.

What about John Wolford?

The Rams’ admiration for backup quarterback John Wolford is no fluke. Snead said that if there is a quarterback competition between Goff and others — remember, McVay wants competition at every position! — Wolford will be among those competing (though he was quick to establish Wolford’s status as the backup quarterback in his response).

But, most interestingly, Snead floated the concept of another competition: For a more mobile quarterback with an active role in the offense.

“(Having) a change of pace quarterback (available), depending on how the day is going, keeps the defense honest,” Snead said, grinning. “That’s a ‘Les Snead’ argument. I don’t have to call plays, I don’t have to design an offense like that, but I do think we like what we’ve seen in John. We like the skill set he brings to the table.”

Three of the four Rams quarterbacks have good mobility: Wolford plus Bryce Perkins and Devlin Hodges, both of whom just signed futures deals. Could we see these three compete for a changeup package role, similar to how the Saints utilize Taysom Hill?

A source told me shortly before the end of the Rams’ playoff run that a changeup package featuring Perkins recently had been installed during the closed-to-media portions of practice. Snead essentially confirmed that on Tuesday, adding that bigger needs elsewhere on the roster merited the activation of reserve cornerback Donte Deayon over Perkins.

“He was definitely getting prepared to play,” Snead said of Perkins. “He might have even been active on the last game but we did have some – I think we ended up activating another corner instead, based on some special teams (needs), helping some injuries going into that last game. But once you bring that read option, some of those things, the RPOs into play … but we had to get Bryce ready to play, for sure.”