Dare

This is another really good signing of a young player on the rise. He can cover and most of all tackle which was a huge problem in the secondary. He’s a stud v. the run. He’s got excellent length and decent speed for his length.

Lake and Curl should make a very good starting safety duo and paired with Durant and Williams that is a good starting base secondary. Shelley has played well on other teams as a good SCB so that gives them a very good nickel secondary.

from 2024 NFL Free Agency: This Year’s Most Underrated Signings: https://www.the33rdteam.com/2024-nfl-free-agency-this-years-most-underrated-signings/

KAM CURL, SAF, LOS ANGELES RAMS

Kam Curl remains one of the league’s most underrated players and a two-year deal of $9 million, worth up to $13 million, is proof. Not only is that contract well below what Curl should be worth — at max value, the $6.5 million average is just 21st among safeties — but he landed in a perfect spot for his skill set.

During his tenure in Washington, the former seventh-round pick spent 44 percent of his snaps deep, 27 percent in the box, 21 percent in the slot and six percent at the line of scrimmage. He can be used just about anywhere that is needed.

The Los Angeles Rams have been a defense built around disguise throughout the different defensive coordinators during the Sean McVay era. Last season, they had the third-lowest rate of static looks in the league.

A player such as Curl will only help that given how many spots he can play at before and after the snap. He’s an effective blitzer, a strong run defender and can hold up in coverage. In Washington, especially in 2023, he was responsible for cleaning up some messes in front of him, which took away some of his overall impact.

Giving Curl the ability to move around more freely in a better-coordinated defense and a better secondary could unlock another level of a player who has been one of the league’s best at his position while not many noticed.

from Most player-friendly, team-friendly contracts of 2024 NFL free agency: https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-most-player-friendly-team-friendly-contracts-2024-nfl-free-agency

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Player-Friendly

G JONAH JACKSON, LOS ANGELES RAMS

Contract: Three years, $51 million ($17 million per year), $25.5 million fully guaranteed, $34 million total guaranteed

Jackson is the example we alluded to at the top where we talked about our failure to adequately account for position market growth. What an offseason it’s been for guards. We still think this deal is very friendly for the player. With the rise of the interior defender market, both last offseason and with Chris Jones and Christian Wilkins pushing it even higher, it was only natural for the guys who are charged with blocking them to see their contracts rise commensurate with the interior defender market. Nonetheless, Jackson, who is a beast of a run blocker and a gifted young athlete with upside potential, has not been the greatest pass protector through his first four seasons, which is what gets a player paid at the highest level.

From a contractual standpoint, Jackson was able to leverage Los Angeles Rams right guard Kevin Dotson’s three-year extension into a three-year extension of his own. We’ve seen in recent years that players and their agents have pushed for shorter and shorter deals, with the wide receiver market last offseason being the best example, but this trend occurs on different timelines across different positions.

The guard market had remained one of the stickier ones with respect to shortening the contract term below four or even five years, so the guards who were able to maintain strong average annual values and also a faster path back to a rapidly growing market did really well for themselves.

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Team-Friendly

S KAMREN CURL, LOS ANGELES RAMS

*Contract: Two years, up to $13 million*

*We have not seen the actual contract details here, but we’re more than comfortable saying this is a phenomenal value for the Los Angeles Rams.

Curl probably got dinged in the market not only because the safety market is always a gauntlet unless you’re a clear top player at the position but also because of a lack of ball production over the past three seasons, with zero interceptions since his rookie campaign. That said, Curl is extremely reliable at all three levels of the defense and is good at everything, even if he’s arguably not stellar at anything particular.

Over the past four seasons, Curl’s 85 defensive stops are the third most among all safeties. He is willing to get downhill and make plays at or near the line of scrimmage in addition to his coverage responsibilities, and the Los Angeles Rams got a very well-rounded young player on a great value deal.

This was the game I rewatched last night on all 22 and thought to myself if the #Rams get this Tre White they are golden. pic.twitter.com/ZKh6CDS9kF

— JAKE ELLENBOGEN (@JKBOGEN) March 27, 2024

Why Rams invested heavily at guard position in free agency, and what’s next as the 2024 NFL Draft approaches

Stu Jackson

https://www.therams.com/news/rams-approach-initial-wave-2024-free-agency-what-s-next-draft

ORLANDO, Fla. – Externally, there may have been some ideas of the Rams’ biggest roster needs – namely on defense – and those positions subsequently being addressed as the new league year began.

But as free agency unfolded, the signings leaned toward the offense with the return of Kevin Dotson and the signings of Jonah Jackson, Colby Parkinson and Jimmy Garoppolo.

Of course, defense was addressed with the signings of defensive backs Kamren Curl and Darious Williams. Overall, though, each move was part of a strategic pivot and investment to best position the Rams in 2024.

“I think to (head coach) Sean (McVay) and (general manager) Les (Snead)’s credit, (as well as Vice President, Football & Business Administration) Tony (Pastoors) and the scouting staff, when you enter free agency with a lot of money for the first time, a lot of salary cap space, I think they looked at it as, ‘how do we build the best team?'” Rams President Kevin Demoff told theRams.com at the NFL Annual Meeting earlier this week. “Maybe not what the holes at the time were, (but) it’s always a long offseason. Last year proved you can fill holes all the way up through the season. I mean, I even think Carson Wentz right at the end. And the really good teams go out to the best players and (are) not just filling holes that stage. So I think, Sean, Les, the offensive staff, Tony, Matt Shearin, John McKay, Matt Waugh, had a vision that the best value in this year’s free agency is going to be at the guards, it’s where they thought the best player value alignment (was).”

Asked about their evaluation of the guard market, Pastoors said the entire offensive line as a market “has grown by leaps and bounds.” He pointed to what tackles on both sides are getting paid now, and how they’ve been fortunate with former left tackle Andrew Whitworth being on a team-friendly deal, as well as current starting right tackle Rob Havenstein and his agent Joe Panos always being great to work with.

“So we kind of had been fortunate to stay out of that, to some extent, out of the new heights of those markets,” Pastoors said. “From an interior, we’ve been kind of the same. We knew that growth was coming. We try to keep a pulse of what’s going on across the league, and you hear from other agents and what they thought it could be. And so when we were able to get the Kevin deal done prior to the start of free agency, I think that was really helpful because (it’s), ‘okay, we’re settled now.'”

According to Snead, Jackson got on their radar when he successfully made the jump from Rutgers to Ohio State as a grad transfer. They continued to follow his career after he got drafted by the Lions, and were monitoring him as a potential replacement for Dotson if they were unable to re-sign Dotson.

Pastoors said they were surprised that Jackson got to the negotiating period prior to the official start of free agency. They thought the Lions would try to bring Jackson back and do what the Rams had done with Dotson.

“When they didn’t, I think Sean and Les and the staff felt there was an opportunity to get bigger and stronger,” Pastoors said, adding that having two young, premier guards on deals that made sense was something they weren’t necessarily expecting, “but certainly excited to have.”

With Parkinson, it reminded Demoff of when the team signed Robert Woods as a free agent. Demoff emphasized he wasn’t saying Parkinson is going to be Woods, just that Parkinson is another really young player who they liked coming out of college and maybe didn’t have the role at his previous team where you see it a little bit differently for him.

“The size and fit for a Sean offense are really strong,” Demoff said. “And obviously Tyler (Higbee) has been such a workhorse for us, we’ve known we’ve needed to change that anyways, but where can you find a complement to a Davis Allen? And obviously coming off an injury, too.”

Demoff also said the Rams had been tracking Williams as a player who might potentially get cut. Meanwhile, Curl “was a player we really liked in the process,” but they thought he would be signed by another team right away. So when that didn’t materialize, they pivoted and worked to get him signed.

Curl’s situation is a little bit similar to Jackson’s, according to Demoff, in that you’re evaluating the entire market because you might lose a player – referring to Jordan Fuller’s market – but at the same time finding “a really valuable piece you might like.”

As for Garoppolo, Snead said they felt like his familiarity with their offensive system and playing style made him a better fit for the backup quarterback role, as much as they were “fans of” Carson Wentz.

So, what’s next?

Demoff points to last offseason serving as a lesson that some of the Rams’ best signings in free agency have come later in free agency, or after the draft, bringing up names like John Sullivan, Nickell Robey-Coleman, and more recently, Demarcus Robinson, Ahkello Witherspoon and Dotson.

“That’s where John McKay, Matt Waugh, our personnel department do some of their best work,” Demoff said. “I think you’ll see, we should never shut down that process.”

Along those lines, Demoff said you have to keep your finger on the pulse of the league. He recalled when the Rams were at the NFL Annual Meeting back in 2018 when Ndamukong Suh “kind of popped up out of nowhere, (and) we got the deal done.” They also left that year’s meeting with the chance that they might be able to trade for Brandin Cooks, and did so one week later.

“I think this is when you start to see some of the guys who may not get deals, or teams think they might better the price range, this is, as you get in and around the draft, when you can make those trades,” Demoff said. “Hey, a guy’s not there on draft day that you expected, there’s a vet you like, I think this is when we do our best work as a franchise. I’m excited to see what we do between now and that first Sunday in September, but then even from there until really through the trade deadline and the rest of the year. What you’re trying to do now is to set yourself up for success the rest of the time, and hopefully we will do that.”