reporters on Rams in free agency, week 2 (3/16-?)

Previously burned Rams too tentative in free agency

RYAN KARTJE

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/free-708249-rams-agency.html

Rams general manager Les Snead concedes that he has made some bad free agent signings and is being cautious.

A week before NFL free agency opened, Rams COO Kevin Demoff stood in front of an audience at his high school alma mater, Harvard-Westlake, for a presentation on the team’s impending move to Los Angeles. After an hour, he opened the floor to questions, and naturally, the discussion pivoted to the Rams’ plans for free agency.

On March 9, the first official day free agents could sign, the team was flush with cap space. Nearly $45 million was available, enough to make a splash with a big signing or two. But that wasn’t in the Rams’ plans, Demoff said.

Almost all of that space was “earmarked for our own guys,” he explained. There were future contract extensions with Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers and Tavon Austin to think about. And then, there was the blunt truth.

“I will say, we’ve been really crappy in free agency,” Demoff said. “I’ve written a lot of bad deals. We just haven’t found a lot of success in free agency. And so, I think there’s a buyer beware in all of that, in terms of going out and buying other people’s players, that we just haven’t figured out.”

This is hardly an irrational line of thinking. Remember, this is a market that got backup wide receiver Mohamed Sanu paid $7 million per year and one-hit wonder pass rusher Olivier Vernon nearly equal compensation to J.J. Watt. Most active teams overspend in free agency. Many live to regret it.

Demoff knows this. Before the 2013 season, the Rams fell in love with Jared Cook, inexplicably deciding to make him one of the highest-paid tight ends in the league. He’s no longer on the roster. A year later, they signed wideout Kenny Britt, who has been similarly disappointing.

But there’s no reason to tiptoe around free agency. Past failures shouldn’t hamstring a cap-flushed team from making reasonable deals or going for broke on a player who can singlehandedly change your team’s outlook. Not all free agent contracts are bad. Just ask the Super Bowl champion Broncos.

We’re nearly a week into the Rams’ first free agency on the West Coast, and so far, as promised, there have been no blockbuster deals. Safety Rodney McLeod left for Philadelphia, which hurt. But important starters were re-signed – linebacker Mark Barron, defensive ends William Hayes and Eugene Sims, cornerback Trumaine Johnson and center Tim Barnes – and a smart decision was made to let cornerback Janoris Jenkins walk.

There wasn’t, however, any movement at quarterback, where the Rams are most desperate. The market for signal callers has been unsurprisingly steep, the kind of salary blitz that gets Brock Osweiler paid an average of $18 million per year in Houston. Caution is understandable. But completely removing yourself from the market, like the Rams seem to have done, doesn’t help any more than overpaying Osweiler would have. At least now the Texans look like a legitimate playoff team.

As of now, Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick remains perplexingly unsigned, and while it appears that he’s asking for too much – probably close to what Osweiler made – the market should soon adjust for him. When that happens, a savvy team could slide in and secure a 33-year-old proven starter with a reasonable two- or three-year contract worth around $15 million per year.

That team almost certainly won’t be the Rams, though. Demoff has called current starter Case Keenum his “favorite free agent quarterback.” After rejecting advances from Robert Griffin III and denying interest in other quarterbacks, the organization clearly remains committed to Keenum. For a quarterback who has completed more than 60 percent of his passes in just one season (2015), it’s fair to wonder why.

It’s a risk-averse move, sure. Overpaying a failing quarterback can cripple an organization’s plans. But refusing to make big moves when they present themselves is equally damaging – especially when you haven’t had a winning season in 13 years.

With Keenum, the Rams may surpass their pathetic 11-touchdown total in the passing game next season. To expect much beyond that, though, is probably unreasonable. And with no real options coming up in free agency next season, another thin draft class at quarterback in 2017, and a roster that will perpetually keep them out of the league’s top 10 picks, the Rams are on the verge of putting themselves in an even tighter spot, either forced to draft a quarterback this year or roll with Keenum for the foreseeable future. Neither of those options is ideal.

Even after re-signing Donald and Austin and whomever else next offseason, there would almost certainly still be enough space for the Rams to fit an upgrade at quarterback, where they’re simply not dynamic enough at the moment to be a playoff contender. So why stay with Keenum, other than out of fear of overpaying elsewhere? And why leave him without any added weapons?

In spite of its conservative approach, the Rams offense is still frighteningly low on talent. While they’ll probably address their wideout shortage in Rounds 1 or 2, affordable free agent targets like new Pittsburgh tight end Ladarius Green, who signed for $5 million per year, could have been had this offseason.

Instead, the Rams have chosen to take a backseat, while other rising teams, such as the Raiders, address several needs with (mostly) reasonable contracts.

As he wrapped up his answer about the team’s free agents plans, Demoff suggested that the team would pursue players who approached them with interest in playing in Los Angeles. Beyond that, “I wouldn’t expect a ton from us.”

To his point, we haven’t seen much. Often, that’s not a bad thing in free agency.

But for a team with no viable quarterback, limited options in the passing game, a middling offensive line and tens of millions in available cap space, it’s fair to wonder whether the Rams’ conservative approach to free agency is safe or just shortsighted.