GR traded to Lions

The #Rams have traded OL Greg Robinson to the #Lions, source said. Explains why he's been out of the lineup recently.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 15, 2017

#Lions have been in the market for a tackle. Now they get Greg Robinson from the #Rams. It's for a 2018 6th rounder, as @AdamSchefter said

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 15, 2017

According to @Jason_OTC the #Rams are expected to save $3.3M on the cap by trading Robinson to the Lions. pic.twitter.com/PQ7X6LAel0

— TurfShowTimes (@TurfShowTimes) June 15, 2017

Zooey wrote:

11 Tennessee Titans Taylor Lewan † OT Michigan Big Ten

Lewan wasn’t in the mix. He tried to protect a college teammate accused of rape by threatening to rape the victim himself if she didn’t drop the allegations.

Zooey wrote:

zn wrote:

Lewan wasn’t in the mix. He tried to protect a college teammate accused of rape by threatening to rape the victim himself if she didn’t drop the allegations.

That’s right. But there was some love flowing for Watkins, Evans, and Martin. Khalil Mack is another guy who worked out a little better than Robinson.

I dunno man, they couldn’t possibly pay for both Mack and Donald.

I am not that interested in Watkins. Glad they skipped that one.

Best bet would have been a trade down.

They had a trade up in the works for Martin, but Dallas took him one pick before the slot they would have traded into.

….

Jason Cole‏@JasonColeBR

Most damning story about ex-Rams, new-Lions OT Greg Robinson is that he spent more time learning rap lyrics than studying pass protections.

Rams’ new regime quickly moved on from failed LT Greg Robinson

Alden Gonzalez

http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/34050/rams-new-regime-quickly-moved-on-from-failed-lt-greg-robinson

LOS ANGELES — Greg Robinson’s ineffective, disappointing stint with the Los Angeles Rams ended with a red-eye flight out of LAX. The Rams traded Robinson, the former No. 2 overall pick who was no longer their left tackle, to the Detroit Lions for a 2018 sixth-round pick, both teams announced on Thursday morning.

Robinson was informed of the trade on Wednesday afternoon and was sent on an East-bound flight later that night.

The Rams, now under an entirely new coaching staff, had moved on long before that.

They watched Robinson struggle thoroughly, with both penalties and inconsistent play, over these past three years. They benched him twice amid a 4-12 season in 2016, then splurged on a free-agent left tackle, Andrew Whitworth, and opted against picking up the fifth-year option on Robinson’s rookie contract. Robinson was moving to right tackle in 2017. But by the time the Rams’ offseason program wrapped up on Wednesday, Jamon Brown was taking all the first-team snaps at the position and Robinson was only involved with the scout team.

“Since we drafted Greg, he has been committed to our organization, his teammates and community outreach,” Rams general manager Les Snead said in a statement. “We appreciate his decision and the effort he’s put forth over the past three seasons. We wish him the best as he embarks on this new chapter.”

The trade frees the Rams of a little more than $3.3 million in salary-cap space, money that can help Snead on extensions for defensive players like Aaron Donald, Alec Ogletree, Lamarcus Joyner and, if they choose, Trumaine Johnson.

Robinson committed an NFL-leading 31 total penalties over the past two years and was graded 71st among 78 qualified tackles by Pro Football Focus this past season. The Lions traded for Robinson and signed Cyrus Kouandjio on the same day to compete for their open left tackle position, and Jim Caldwell is willing to give Robinson a fresh start.

“I’m concerned about what he does for us here and now and this point forward,” the Lions’ fourth-year head coach said. “I don’t look back much.”

Asked by Lions reporters on Thursday morning about his time with the Rams, Robinson said, plainly: “Haven’t really went the way I would like, but I think at this point, besides all the negatives, just trying to improve as much as possible. That’s all I can offer.”

Robinson was one of eight players acquired, either via picks or subsequent trades, in the blockbuster trade that allowed Washington to draft Robert Griffin III in 2012. Now, only two players remain on the Rams’ roster from that deal — Ogletree, an inside linebacker, and Michael Brockers, a defensive tackle.

Robinson is 6-foot-5 and 332 pounds with elite athleticism. But he came in raw from an Auburn system that didn’t require much from him and he hasn’t really adapted to the NFL. Longtime offensive line coach Paul Boudreau spoke about Robinson’s maddingly erratic play towards the end of last season. He said there are times when one could “make a training film” out of how well Robinson blocks, but then there are times when he’s “all over the place with his feet, all over the place with his hands.”

“He’s consistently inconsistent,” Boudreau said then. “He doesn’t have a bad game; he has bad plays in games. And it comes in inopportune times. And when you’re a left tackle, you’re exposed.”

It was clear by Wednesday afternoon that the Rams had no place on their roster for Robinson, who was barely even getting snaps in practice. Sean McVay was asked what he wasn’t seeing with Robinson and whether he still had a role on the team, but the rookie head coach remained vague and spoke only about staying open-minded about every position.

Robinson probably knew then that his time with the Rams was up.

“I would say it’s new for everyone,” Robinson said when asked why he wasn’t a fit. “It was new for everyone, and they made the decisions they made, and I can only control what I can control and only go forward there.”

Trade of Greg Robinson illustrates a new way of thinking by the Rams

VINCENT BONSIGNORE

link: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/06/15/the-trade-of-greg-robinson-and-the-domino-effect-preceding-it-illustrates-a-new-way-of-thinking-by-ther-rams/

The writing was on the wall well before the Rams traded Greg Robinson to the Detroit Lions early Thursday morning for a sixth-round draft pick.

So we won’t give them too much credit for acting decisively and wisely in completing the trade, which puts to rest the inglorious three-year Rams career of a player of whom so much was expected after he was selected second overall in the 2014 draft and yet so little was delivered.

The former Auburn star was supposed to lock down the left tackle position for the Rams for the next decade and anchor a young, dominant offensive line.

But it didn’t take long to figure out Robinson simply wasn’t up to the task. And it took even less time for him to play his way out of the Rams’ present and future.

He was billed as a dominant run-blocker with the athletic ability and size to develop into a premier pass-rush protector. The former was never the case and the later never materialized. The fact the Rams could get a draft pick for him given all his underachieving is a coup, not that a sixth-round pick will ever make up for the major swing and miss they took drafting him.

All the more egregious given how current All-Pro linebacker Khalil Mack was there for the taking at the time.

But what’s done is done.

In the bigger scheme of things, the Robinson trade, the domino effect that preceded it and the thought process and imagination behind it bodes well for the club moving forward.

There is a different vibe with these Rams under new coach Sean McVay, one that reaches above him into the general manager’s office, below him to his assistants and around him with the players.

“Aggressive,” is how Jamon Brown explained it from the player’s side.

Brown is the main beneficiary of the Robinson trade given the wide open path it clears for him to win the starting right tackle job. But he’s also a prime example of the new, aggressive approach from the Rams.

Although Brown played tackle in college at Louisville, he’s strictly been a guard in his first two seasons with the Rams. And he fully expected to continue that role this year. That is, until new Rams offensive line coach Aaron Kromer decided to give Brown some reps at right tackle during an Organized Team Activity practice last month.

“It was like, literally right there on the practice field,” Brown remembers, laughing. “Like, hey, take some reps at right tackle.”

To call it a whim would be underestimating Kromer and McVay. They knew Brown’s history as a tackle and had a pretty good idea he could at least provide average play at the position if given a chance. But there was some method to the madness in how Kroemer approached Brown about the possibility.

As in, right in the middle of a practice without any heads up.

“It’s OK to make guys uncomfortable sometimes this time of year,” Kromer explained.

And even more beneficial to see how they respond.

Brown immediately took to the position and was a mainstay with the first team the rest of OTA’s and minicamp, which concluded Wednesday when McVay canceled the final practice as a reward for a job well done this offseason.

“My thought process was just to show them I could be versatile, that I could play any position,” Brown said, “I knew new players were being brought in. Guys were being shuffled around. So I just wanted to make as positive an impression as possible.”

That’s exactly what happened, apparently.

“I guess coach was pleased,” Brown said, smiling.

That doesn’t mean Brown is guaranteed to be the starting right tackle when the Rams open the season against the Indianapolis Colts the first week of September. Or that Kroemer and McVay won’t ultimately decide to flip Rob Havenstein back to right tackle from right guard after making the switch from tackle to guard to start OTAs.

But with the left side of the line now solidified with two-time All-Pro tackle Andrew Whitworth coming over in free agency and Rodger Saffold at left guard, the Rams can now focus on getting the right side figured out.

“We’re still trying to sort all that out,” Kroemer said.

But even that speaks well to the new Rams’ way of doing things under McVay, which seems much more progressive, imaginative and inclusive compared to previous coach Jeff Fisher.

The willingness to remain open-minded about positions and roles rather than locking themselves into one way of looking at things is a refreshing change.

Just moving Havenstein to guard illustrates that. One look at the 6-foot-6, 322-pound Havenstein and you immediately think tackle given the height and size.

From McVay and Kromer’s vantage point, though, they saw a better athlete than others may have seen — which enables him to get on defenders quicker than most would have suspected — plus a bright mind to handle the intricacies of the position.

“I think he’s kind of one of the rare exceptions where he’s such a sharp guy, things do happen a little bit faster inside and he’s got better athleticism,” McVay said.

And it didn’t hurt that Havenstein had to clean up a bit before taking a stroll to the altar a few months ago, resulting in a bit of a body transformation any groom would be envious of.

“We always joke with him because he lost a little bit of weight because he got married this offseason,” McVay said. “So, he had to look good for that.”

Point being, McVay and his staff saw something in Havenstein others may have closed their minds to, whether it was because he didn’t fit the prototype or look the part or out of sheer stubbornness.

More importantly, they had the guts to act on their instincts and at least give it a shot, making no promises in the process while reminding players this remains a fluid situation.

“You have to be ready for anything,” Brown said. “ Nothing’s set in stone right now, given how far out we are from the actual season.”

As for Robinson, his time with the club was being measured in months almost from the moment McVay was hired and he and the Rams locked in on and ultimately reeled in Whitworth in free agency.

Whitworth coming aboard immediately displaced Robinson and sent him over to right tackle on essentially a tryout basis.

But given the Rams’ decision to decline Robinson’s fifth-year option for 2018, he would have needed a breakthrough year to put himself back on their long-range radar. And even that would not have guaranteed any sort of future with the team beyond this season.

If, say, Robinson actually held onto the starting job he could have been looking at the kind of $8 million or $11 million dollar deals fellow top-two pick tackles — and disappointments — Matt Kalil and Luke Joeckel got from the Panthers and Seahawks after fizzling out with the Vikings and Jaguars.

There is little chance the Rams would have ever paid him that kind of money, especially given the direction their cap is headed and the big-time players currently up for new contracts and raises.

Brown has a cap-friendly $800,000 contract for 2018, so if he can lock down the job he becomes an asset on the field and on the payroll.

Meanwhile, the Rams get a draft pick and $3.2 million in cap relief this year.

It’s not much, but it’s something.

And in the grand scheme of things, it speaks to a new way of doing things under McVay.

Detroit Lions: Greg Robinson, Cyrus Kouandjio will compete at left tackle

David McCaffery

link: http://nflspinzone.com/2017/06/15/detroit-lions-greg-robinson-cyrus-kouandjio-left-tackle/

New Detroit Lions acquisitions Greg Robinson and Cyrus Kouandjio will immediately step in and compete for the team’s starting left tackle role.

In the aftermath of the news that Detroit Lions left tackle Taylor Decker will be out for four to six months following a torn labrum, the team has moved quickly to address the position.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Lions general manager Bob Quinn dealt a 2018 sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams for tackle Greg Robinson on the same day the team also signed talented free agent lineman Cyrus Kouandjio.

Robinson, the second overall selection of the 2014 NFL Draft, was a highly-touted prospect, but the former Auburn Tiger never met his potential with the Rams. Although the 24-year old was at one time considered the team’s left tackle of the future, those plans were abandoned when the franchise recently moved him to the right side during the offseason.

However, the move didn’t appear to work out during OTAs. In fact, per ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez, Robinson had completely lost his chance at the starting job to Jamon Brown, and thus he became expendable. Robinson has one year remaining on his rookie contract and will now have the opportunity to get his career on track in a new location.

Kouandjio, on the other hand, was a Buffalo Bills second-round pick in the very same 2014 Draft. After starting five games at left tackle for the Bills in 2016, the team released him back in May. While he visited the Lions last week and left without a contract, it’s clear that Quinn was impressed enough to bring him into the mix.

Kouandjio has been prone to injuries during his career and is currently on the mend from hip surgery, but the talent is there and at only 23, he still has considerable upside as a professional. While he doesn’t carry the distinction of being a top-five pick, the former Alabama star may be the more likely candidate for a significant role in 2017.

And a significant role is exactly what the team needs to fill. Per Tim Twentyman, head coach Jim Caldwell revealed that both of the new additions will compete for the left tackle job that Decker had locked down prior to his injury:

Without question, left tackle is such an important position that the team had to make moves such as these in order to remain competitive this season. Decker is one of the game’s emerging young lineman talents, and his quality play in 2016 helped quarterback Matthew Stafford enjoy one of the finest seasons of his career.

The timetable for his return could fluctuate, but Decker is certain to be sidelined for a portion of the season and if his recovery takes a full six months, he will miss the majority of the campaign. Clearly, the Lions were smart to take a proactive approach to finding a potential replacement.

While initial reports indicated that the team was likely to turn to in-house candidates like Joe Dahl, Cornelius Lucas, and Corey Robinson, Quinn has shown a willingness to add players to the rotation, and these recent moves make it clear this is going to be an open competition. Tony Hills was signed last week, and now with Robinson and Kouandjio officially in the equation, the franchise has no shortage of options.

It’s far too soon to project who will be the team’s starting left tackle when Week One rolls around, but the organization is clearly prepared to consider all possibilities. None of these players is likely to fill Decker’s shoes, but the Lions are hopeful that one of them emerges as a a reliable contributor on Stafford’s blindside.

While signings like these might not get the same offseason attention as contract negotiations or mini-camp reports, they are ultimately just as important, as left tackle performance will go a long way to deciding whether the 2017 Detroit Lions season will be remembered as a rousing success or a bitter disappointment.