Lance Kendricks re-signs

Yep, it’s official.

Excellent!

I’m very pleased with his news. Jack-of-all-trades type of TE.

http://walterfootball.com/freeagentsigninggrades.php

Rams re-sign TE Lance Kendricks (4 years, $18.5 million): D Grade

Uhh… did the Rams look at the wrong stats when drawing up this deal for Lance Kendricks? Or did Kendricks drug the general manager and convince him to offer nearly $5 million per season? I suppose either scenario could have occurred.

If not, I don’t get it. Lance Kendricks is a mediocre player at best, and it’s not like he’s even the starting tight end. He can block well, but 4-year, $18.5 million contracts shouldn’t be handed out to blocking tight ends. The Rams won the Sam Bradford-Nick Foles trade by a long shot – the analysis is below – but they screwed up with this deal.

I think the Rams overpaid for Kendicks, but he has a better chance of performing to his contract than Cook does. imo

wv wrote:

Yeah if you just go by the stats, it was a bad deal.
But apparently the Rams think he is
more than a “mediocre” player.

w
v

Yeah, the Rams have some TEs on the roster, so keeping Kendricks wasn’t about just needing a TE.
89 Cook, Jared 46 Harkey, Corey 47 Brad Smelley 88 Kendricks, Lance 48 J Cunningham 82 Alex Bayer CF14
But, it is some of the reason why I wouldn’t have paid him that much money.

Apparently the Pats wanted Kendricks. They have a pretty good track record with FA signings. The Rams may have had to overpay, a little, to keep him, because of the Pats, but I think it’s a good signing. I believe he also plays on STs.

Agamemnon wrote:

So, you want to pay a TE like he is Scott Wells??????????? 😉

When I look at contracts I compare them to the avg. for the position for the category of player it is–ie in this case, TEs in their second contract.

By that standard, Kendricks is not overpaid.

He is being paid more or less what blocking TEs are getting. Expensive TEs are are getting 7, 8, 10 M a year.

http://overthecap.com/position/tight-end

2nd numbers column here is avg. per year:

Agamemnon wrote:

I think all those guys are a notch above Kendicks.

I don’t. I mean except Davis. I think Kendricks was under-utilized last year because they need him as a pass blocker.

That’s my theory anyway.

InvaderRam wrote:

i’m not disappointed although i always wonder if the idea of kendricks was always more appealing than the actual production.

we’ll see. maybe the shackles will be taken off this year.

Depends on what you think he is.

To me he is a highly valuable utility TE who can pass block, run block, line up all over the formation to block both ways, AND can catch passes.

If you’re just looking for stats production, IMO, you;re looking for the wrong things.

I think he can produce more than he has as a receiver…we’ve seen it…but he is a valuable utility guy first and foremost.

Heck for a couple of years Seattle paid Zach Miller 11 M a year just to block.

IMO they like all the things Kendricks does. IMO they think he does it all at a high level. A lot of what he does is invisible in the stats dept.

I’m more than OK with the Kendricks contract, as I mentioned, because of his versatility. You’re not going to replace him. You’re worse without him this season. If the Patriots wanted him, that gives you an idea of what a good franchise thinks of his value. Maybe the Rams paid more than the competition, but that’s not overpaying … that’s meeting demand on the open market.

This is different than past Rams’ free agent signings, because they’re re-signing a known quantity who has been fairly durable.

from off the net

===

shovelpass

I’ve heard some refer to Kendricks as a “backup.” He started 15 games & played 60.6% of snaps. Jared Cook 67.0%, Cory Harkey 33.3%. And in some games he played more snaps than any TE, 75% against Washington.

His blocking is such an asset. He was matched up against Von Miller after he gave Barks fits and shut him down. He also an effective receiver, not a threat like Cook, but a solid option. He led the team in TD receptions, 5, not a milestone, but still no one else could top it. (note: 13% of his targets resulted in TDs, higher than any other Ram. With Cook it was 3.5%.)

I think his salary is a fair deal for us, and I expect him to continue to get better.

Howard Balzer ‏@HBalzer721

Lance Kendricks deal $10M guaranteed: $1.5M 2015 salary, $4M RB paid Saturday, $3.25M 2016 salary injury only, fully guar. 5th day LY ’16…

Also, $1.25M RB 2016, inj only, ful guaranteed on 1st day of 2015 training camp. Salaries: $1.5, 3.25, 3.75, 3.75. RB: $4M, 1.25, 500, 500.

Most important, Kendricks counts $5,5M against cap this year. Cap numbers each year: $5.5M, $4.5M, $4.25M, $4.25M

Lance Kendricks happy to stay in St. Louis

By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/17106/lance-kendricks-happy-to-stay-in-st-louis

EARTH CITY, Mo. — As tight end Lance Kendricks’ first foray into free agency drew close to an official beginning, all signs pointed to him being headed for greener pastures with the Atlanta Falcons.

During the three-day negotiating window preceding free agency, the Falcons had pushed hard for Kendricks and made a lucrative offer exceeding the others that he’d received. The St. Louis Rams, meanwhile, wanted to keep Kendricks but had a limit on how far they’d go to do so.

Throughout the process, Kendricks stayed in touch with tight ends coach Rob Boras, who was Kendricks’ biggest advocate and vice-versa. As Kendricks tells it, he and Boras would exchange messages with Boras imploring Kendricks to stay and Kendricks telling Boras that nothing was certain.

“He gave me a few calls,” Kendricks said. “He was getting nervous, I heard he was pacing up and down the hallways. I was shooting him some texts but I didn’t want to give him a heart attack.”

Kendricks and Boras can laugh about it now that the 27-year old tight end/fullback/jack-of-all trades has re-signed with the Rams on a four-year contract worth $18.5 million. But it’s quite clear that things were touch and go for a bit on whether the Rams would get Kendricks back.

In fact, Kendricks confirmed Friday that the offer he received from the tight end needy Falcons exceeded the one he eventually took to stay in St. Louis. When the Rams upped the ante to the offer he signed, Kendricks decided to put value on his comfort level over the bottom line.

“It’s not always about the money,” Kendricks said. “I think being able to come to work and be happy and work with some of the people that love being around, that’s a little more important, just the common bond we all have as players and players from St. Louis. We all kind of walk with a chip on our shoulders. For me, I just love it here so I have to make sure I was able to stay.”

That process wasn’t so simple as finding an offer that was in the same ballpark as the one he received from Atlanta, either. Near the end of the season, Kendricks had made it clear that he wanted an expanded role in the passing game wherever he landed in free agency.

The 2011 second-round pick had entered the league with a reputation as a pass-catcher but evolved into more of a Swiss Army knife for the offense in his time with the Rams. In 2014, Kendricks had a career-low 27 catches with 259 yards but did lead the team with five touchdown grabs. In four seasons with the Rams, Kendricks has 129 receptions for 1,388 yards and 13 scores.

“That’s something that was emphasized,” Kendricks said. “With the quarterback changes we had going on last year it was really hard for anyone to get in a rhythm so Coach Boras and [offensive coordinator Frank] Cignetti spoke to me yesterday about implementing more options in the passing game for me so I’m pretty happy about that and I’m excited to see what they have in the works.”

Those numbers might seem awfully low for a player now scheduled to bank in excess of $4.5 million a year but Kendricks’ value to the Rams offense goes beyond the numbers. Kendricks has lined up in-line, in the slot, in the backfield and just about anywhere else you can imagine. And though Jared Cook is technically listed as the starter, the Rams frequently use multiple tight end sets.

Kendricks played 569 snaps in 2014, trailing Cook’s 654 but ahead of Cory Harkey’s 318. Kendricks is usually on the field with Cook and the Rams sometimes even have all three in the game at the same time.

Now that Kendricks is locked in with the Rams, they’ll probably look to find ways to get him more involved. After major drop issues as a rookie, Kendricks has become a more reliable pass-catcher and given the contract, it would appear the Rams have bigger plans for him moving forward.

And Boras can finally relax in the knowledge that Kendricks remained a Ram despite great interest elsewhere.

“He definitely played a huge role in me staying,” Kendricks said. “It would be hard for me to find a better tight end coach than Rob. That was important to me. Rob makes us all better players. Without him, it would definitely be more of a challenge. He makes it easier for us. He puts a lot on our shoulders and he expects a lot out of us. So I was happy to be able to stay.”

InvaderRam wrote:

i do expect kendricks to get more involved in the receiving game especially if they can fix that oline.

Yeah I agree with that. In fact…looks like it.