Rams news black hole

I stayed busy with contracts, salary cap, and roster models. But, I think those subjects are about exhausted. I could do cake recipes.

When making a Pound Cake, weight the eggs first, then match the other ingredients to the eggs.

Rams sign DT Dominique Easley (1 year, $600,000): A+ Grade
When it was revealed that the Patriots cut Dominique Easley because of some locker room issues, it became quite obvious that Los Angeles was a very likely destination for him. The Rams, after all, have had success with troubled individuals, including one (Janoris Jenkins) who was also from Florida.

This is an outstanding signing. Easley wasn’t cut for performance issues; on the contrary, he was extremely effective when healthy. If Jeff Fisher can get the most out of him like he did with Jenkins and other players with character concerns, Easley could be a big-time player for the Rams.

The one other thing to note is that health is also a problem for Easley, who has missed 10 games the past two seasons. However, there’s absolutely no risk with this deal. Los Angeles signed Easley to a 1-year contract worth $600,000, which includes no guaranteed money. If Easley becomes a problem or can’t stay healthy, the Rams can simply get rid of him with no penalty. Given that this deal contains no risk and happens to be all upside, I think this signing deserves an easy A+.
Read more at http://walterfootball.com/freeagentsigninggrades.php#b4CdO6I7Xucvh6TF.99

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Rams re-sign K Greg Zuerlein (1 year, $1.25 million): C+ Grade
Greg “the leg” Zuerlein has been a disappointment thus far. He has eclipsed an 80-percent conversion rate on his field goal tries just once in his career, when he pieced together a sterling 26-of-28 campaign in 2013. The negative numbers are somewhat misleading, however, as Zuerlein has missed a lot from 50-plus. For example, as a rookie, he was 23-of-31 overall, but six of those whiffs came from beyond 50, where he was 7-of-13. In 2014, Zuerlein was 24-of-30, but drilled 5-of-7 attempts from long distance.

Zuerlein was awful last season, however. He was 20-of-30 (66.7%) and just 3-of-9 from deep. He also went only 5-of-8 in the 40-49 range, which is pretty underwhelming. When taking account that he played at least half of his games in a dome, it’s easy to see why the Rams would be displeased with him.

Having said that, Zuerlein is certainly worthy of another chance. He obviously has the leg power, so perhaps he’ll be able to improve upon his accuracy this offseason and put together a bounce-back 2016 campaign.
Read more at http://walterfootball.com/freeagentsigninggrades.php#b4CdO6I7Xucvh6TF.99

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Rams acquire No. 1 overall pick, Nos. 113 and 177 from Titans for Nos. 15, 43, 45 and 76, and 2017 first- and third-rounders
Four years ago, the Rams dealt the No. 2 overall choice to the Redskins for a king’s ransom of draft picks, which Washington used to select Robert Griffin. That was deemed as a great trade at the time for the Redskins, who were desperate for a franchise quarterback. That move would look outstanding at first, as Griffin led the team to the playoffs as a rookie, but flamed out ever since. Because Washington surrendered so many draft choices, its depth was shot. The team finally recovered in 2016, though it needed the quarterback from the best squad in the division to go down in order to claim the NFC East.

It’s funny to see that the Rams are on the other side of things. They’ve soared all the way from No. 15 to move in position to select a franchise quarterback. As I tweeted out, Charlie Campbell reported two months ago that the Rams love Carson Wentz, so that’s apparently whom they are going to take.

Let me clear here: I understand the importance of a franchise quarterback. For those who have been reading the site for a while, you know that I do. However, surrendering countless resources like this is a sketchy move to begin with, even if it’s for a highly rated prospect like Griffin was four years ago. Depth is extremely important, so with all of these picks gone – as well as several key free agents departing this offseason – the Rams won’t be very deep. Like the Ravens, they’ll be done after incurring a couple of key injuries.

Making matters worse, this is the wrong year to trade up for a signal-caller. It’s not like last year when there were two studs – Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota – atop the class. And it’s not like next year when Deshaun Watson will be available (click here for my 2017 NFL Mock Draft.) This class is very weak, and it’s headlined by two quarterbacks other teams have been lukewarm on. Neither Wentz nor Jared Goff is a slam-dunk franchise quarterback. In fact, it’s quite possible that both will flop. If so, the Rams will be horrible for a very long time.

I can’t give Los Angeles a Millen grade for this. At least it’s trying, and it’s adding some excitement, which is needed in Los Angeles, where people haven’t expressed enthusiasm for pro football in the past. However, I have to penalize them with a “D” grade. This is an awfully risky move that has a huge chance of backfiring.

As for the Titans, this is an unbelievable trade, worthy of an A+. They won’t be able to obtain a blue-chip prospect anymore, but as mentioned, this class wasn’t good to begin with. The 2017 draft will be loaded, however, so Tennessee will really be able to strengthen its roster with two potential top-10 selections. Having three second-rounders this year will be enormous for depth purposes.

At 15, I expect Tennessee to do what it was planning to do at No. 1 – target a tackle or a defensive back. Jack Conklin, Mackensie Alexander and Eli Apple are some of the names that will be under consideration. We’ll have a better idea once we talk to our sources in the coming days, so check back in our 2016 NFL Draft Rumors page.

Oh, and two things: First, I’ll be updating my 2016 NFL Mock Draft later today, and I’ll also be posting a winners and losers column for this trade.

Second, Would it kill the Rams not to conduct a trade so early? The five fans they have in Los Angeles were all asleep when the trade was announced at 6:15 a.m. locally. How are the Rams expected to build up excitement in their new city by making big moves when everyone is still in bed?

Grade for Rams – D
Grade for Titans – A+

Read more at http://walterfootball.com/freeagentsigninggrades.php#b4CdO6I7Xucvh6TF.99

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Rams sign DE Quinton Coples (2 years, $6.5M; $750K guaranteed): B+ Grade
Quinton Coples is a talented, former first-round pick who has disappointed his entire career. I had concerns about his effort when he was coming out of North Carolina, and his lethargy has caused two teams to dump him thus far.

Will the third team be the charm? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean this is a bad signing of any sort. The overall value of this contract is $6.5 million, but only $750,000 of it is guaranteed, so Los Angeles can cut him without any sort of consequence. Much like the Jared Cook signing from earlier today, this deal is all upside. If Coples pans out, the Rams will have incredible pass-rushing depth. If not, then it doesn’t really matter.

Read more at http://walterfootball.com/freeagentsigninggrades.php#b4CdO6I7Xucvh6TF.99

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Rams sign CB Coty Sensabaugh (3 years, $19 million): D Grade
I have some signings to catch up on, such as this one. I would’ve gotten to these earlier, but the contract details weren’t available at the time. Facebook friend Adam P. wrote the following before I saw the terms: “I’m starting to fear the Rams are going to receive a Millen for the Sensabaugh signing.”

Well, this isn’t a Millen, but it’s a pretty poor grade. Sensabaugh struggled last year, so I’m not sure why the Rams felt as though they needed to pay him more than $6 million per season. Something along the lines of a 3-year, $9 million pact would’ve made so much more sense for a nickel who was poor in coverage this past season.

However, if you’re one of the five Ram fans out there, don’t be too discouraged. Sensabaugh has played well at times in the past, so there’s a chance he could be a somewhat decent player on his new team. A somewhat decent, overpaid player, but a possible OK contributor nonetheless. Then again, he could suck again like he did in 2015, which is why it’s so confusing as to why Los Angeles paid him so much.
Read more at http://walterfootball.com/freeagentsigninggrades.php#b4CdO6I7Xucvh6TF.99

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Rams re-sign DE Eugene Sims (3 years, $10M; $3.5M guaranteed): C+ Grade
I had the Rams selecting two defensive ends in this past week’s 2016 NFL Mock Draft because Chris Long, William Hayes and Eugene Sims were all impending free agents. Well, things will definitely change in the next update, as Los Angeles has now managed to retain two of those players.

I liked the Hayes re-signing, but this one is an overpay. Giving more than $3 million per season to a 30-year-old declining, mediocre bench player seems like a bit too much. It’s nice to have Sims back, but I think the Rams could have kept him (or signed someone similar) for a bit less.

Read more at http://walterfootball.com/freeagentsigninggrades.php#b4CdO6I7Xucvh6TF.99

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Rams re-sign C Tim Barnes (2 years, $5.5 million): C Grade
This could have been a lot worse. When general manager Les Snead told the media earlier in the offseason that he absolutely wanted Tim Barnes back, I thought he would hand him a huge contract. Well, he did, relatively.

To say that Barnes struggled as the Rams’ starting center last year would be an understatement. He was poor in every facet, especially in terms of run blocking. Having him back as a backup is fine, but if Los Angeles uses him as a starter again, the team is going to be in big trouble. This is something in between starter and reserve money, so I’m not sure where the Rams are going with this, so I think I’ll settle on giving them a “C.”
Read more at http://walterfootball.com/freeagentsigninggrades.php#b4CdO6I7Xucvh6TF.99

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Rams re-sign WR Brian Quick (1 year, $3.75M; $1.5M guaranteed): B- Grade
This is the most non-terrible confusing move of the day, if that makes any sense. I figured neither party wanted anything to do with the other, yet the Rams and Brian Quick will be together once more in 2016.

Quick has been poorly utilized by the Rams. He was on the field for only about 300 snaps in 2015, catching just 10 passes. Why would he want to return to a team that didn’t value him that much? And why would Los Angeles want him back when it didn’t appear to be interested in utilizing him much in the first place?

Quick has upside, so I’m going to mark this down as a B- just in case, but I just don’t understand the logic behind this move.
Read more at http://walterfootball.com/freeagentsigninggrades.php#b4CdO6I7Xucvh6TF.99

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Rams re-sign DE William Hayes (3 years, $17.5M; $10M guaranteed): B+ Grade
In a market in which Olivier Vernon earns $85 million over five seasons, this is an absolute steal. Granted, William Hayes isn’t as good, as he’s also about five years older than Vernon, but he’s still a talented player who was retained at a bargain.

The Rams would’ve had a big hole at defensive end if Hayes departed. Besides the obvious, the reason they were so dominant up front even when Chris Long was hurt was Hayes’ great play. Hayes has never recorded double-digit sacks, but as with Vernon, that’s a misleading figure. He’s a very underrated player, so the Rams deserve a high mark for retaining him.

Read more at http://walterfootball.com/freeagentsigninggrades.php#b4CdO6I7Xucvh6TF.99

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Rams re-sign OLB Mark Barron (5 years, $45 million): D Grade
When the Rams said that retaining Mark Barron was a priority, I never thought that they would pay him $9 million per season. As it turns out, that’s exactly what they did in an absolutely stunning move.

Mark Barron, the former No. 7 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, had been a failure his entire career, but finally played well last year when he was moved from safety to linebacker. Was the positional change the reason, or was it his desperate attempt to land a big contract? If it’s the latter, the Rams are in a lot of trouble. But even if it’s the former, Barron didn’t play well enough to warrant this sort of deal. He was solid, especially in run support, but he looked like he was worth maybe $4 million per year. Instead, he’s getting double!
Read more at http://walterfootball.com/freeagentsigninggrades.php#b4CdO6I7Xucvh6TF.99

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Rams re-sign CB Trumaine Johnson (1 year, $13.952 million): B+ Grade
Both Los Angeles cornerbacks are talented, but I didn’t think either was overly deserving of the franchise tag. Trumaine Johnson was slapped with it, and he’ll consequently earn $13.952 million in 2016 if a long-term deal isn’t completed.

That price is a bit steep for Johnson, but one thing needs to be considered: Los Angeles has about $45 million in cap space this spring, so it could definitely afford to dedicate a big chunk of salary to one player. Plus, the Rams had to ensure that they’d re-sign one of Johnson or Janoris Jenkins this offseason so that their defense could continue to be dominant.
Read more at http://walterfootball.com/freeagentsigninggrades.php#b4CdO6I7Xucvh6TF.99

Slow day. Walter football isn’t that great. imo

wv wrote:

Do you have any potato salad tips?

w
v

No tips, except, I like Hot German Potato Salad. Made is this style.
Make a potato salad that can be served hot or cold. Its signature ingredients are bacon, vinegar and a pinch of sugar.
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/hot-german-potato-salad/39665c22-834a-4d6b-9d9e-218b1e423365

zn wrote:

Agamemnon wrote:

I stayed busy with contracts, salary cap, and roster models. But, I think those subjects are about exhausted. I could do cake recipes.

You did a lot of work!

It’s appreciated.
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How do you feel about German
potato salad?

w
v

.

For me, the vinegar and the sugar are non-starters.

I prefer a potato salad made from potatoes, eggs, celery, parsley, red pepper, mayo, bacon, onion, salt and pepper (maybe some fresh dill if you have it).

Most of the eggs get diced, but slice one up for the topper and dust with paprika.

This is my Polish grandmother’s recipe, minus the bacon. Just recently added the bacon, and it makes a huge positive impact.