The next round of free agency and the Rams
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/18414/morning-ram-blings-the-next-round-of-free-agency-and-the-rams
EARTH CITY, Mo. — Free agency in the NFL isn’t what it used to be. Where once there was a glut of teams waiting for June 1 to make certain moves for cap purposes, the league and the players association have made some changes to when that business can be done.
In this week’s mailbag, ESPN NFL senior writer John Clayton begins the proceedings with a look at six things we learned in this year’s free agency.
While Clayton’s six takeaways don’t have much to do with the St. Louis Rams, there is one nugget in his introduction that might be worth noting for those wondering what will become of guys such as guard Justin Blalock or tackle Joe Barksdale.
From Clayton:
“Starting Tuesday, signings don’t count against teams in the computation of compensatory picks.”
Now, that doesn’t really affect the Rams when it comes to re-signing Barksdale or adding Blalock. Atlanta released Blalock so he wouldn’t factor into compensatory picks anyway but it’s notable if there are outside teams interested in Barksdale. If another team wanted to add the Rams’ 2014 starting right tackle, it would be able to sign him without worrying about it changing their compensatory pick formula for next year.
It stands to reason that since teams have waited this long with the likes of Barksdale on the market, he’ll get more attention once he becomes classified as a “street free agent” on Tuesday.
Likewise, if the Rams have designs on signing a veteran anywhere on the team, they wouldn’t have to worry about their own compensatory formula for next year, either.
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