I think those late comp picks — which really should be viewed as early picks in the following round — should be used primarily to move up, if the trades are there. I’d also try to set things up for the next draft, by trading some of them for an earlier round in 2024 or 2025. Typically, a 5th rounder this year is worth a 4th founder next year. Not always. But typically.

. . . The Niners got a nice haul this year of seven total. Four is the max, unless a team receives comps for coaching losses due to promotions of minority candidates to HC or GM. That gives the Niners a ton of flexibility with their other comps. If I were their GM, I’d use the late picks for trade-ups and next year’s draft.

The Rams have three comps after the 5th round, and one after the 7th. There’s a big gap between their 3rd rounder (77, from the Dolphins), and their first comp after the 5th (167). Hopefully, they can move up. Not likely, but it would be great if they could trade a player they no longer have plans for . . . but not sure if they have any of those assets left. Wagner and Floyd might have been their last chance for mid-draft picks.

This is obviously going to be a seriously important draft year.

zn wrote:

Billy_T wrote:

Jourdan’s podcast is a coupla days early this week. Ad-free if you have The Athletic. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-the-jalen-ramsey-trade-whats-next-for-rams/id1477535034?i=1000603975002

Is it entirely about the Ramsey trade? If not, maybe it should be it’s own thread? I fixed your ¶s in that one post btw.

Thanks for the edits, ZN.

The podcast is mostly about the trade, but not entirely. Jourdan gives her take on the comp for the trade, and they touch upon general team issues and looking to 2024. It’s pretty good. Better, IMO, than Jourdan’s recent article on the trade. She’s more to the point. etc. Just my take.

Good catch, ZN.

My bad.

I think I got that (cut and paste) from cbssports after a quick duckduckgo. Looks wrong.

Here’s the list from Ramswire:

Round 2
No. 36

Round 3
No. 69
No. 77 (from Dolphins)

Round 5
No. 167*
No. 171*
No. 177*

Round 6
No. 182
No. 189 (from Titans)
No. 191 (from Packers)

Round 7
No. 223 (from Detroit)
No. 251*

*compensatory pick

But if reports are true that Ramsey asked for his money to be guaranteed in both 23 and 24, then they didn’t do anything except move on from a player they couldn’t afford.

ZN,

I get that they thought they had no choice but to move on, cuz of the guaranteed money. Perhaps for other reasons we don’t know about, as well. The issue to me is the compensation, and why they narrowed the pool of possible trading partners. It’s clear to me they botched that part. It’s also clear to me that they put themselves in the position of having to say no to Ramsey’s contract demands because of their impulsive contract extensions after the Super Bowl, especially Stafford’s.

IMO, Ramsey would have been the better guy to extend than Stafford, if it came down to a choice. More likely to actually see the field for the majority of his new contract. I just don’t see Stafford as playing for much of his. He’s taken a beating throughout his career, and while he’s tough as nails, I’m not sanguine about his future with the Rams. Don’t know how retirement impacts contracts and guaranteed money, but I’d bet Stafford retires after this season, especially if the Rams don’t make it to the playoffs. AD likely too.

In short, I stand with Achebe: Things Fall Apart.

Quick comment about the trade, mostly via readings/listenings including Jourdan’s. I think where the Rams really hurt themselves is by limiting their trade partners to AFC only. Jourdan said the return was a lot worse than it should have been, and she suggested that was primarily due to limiting the pool of partners.

My inference is that the Rams would have gotten at least a 2nd, and possibly a 1st, if they had said yes to NFC too. Didn’t see this broken down further by just saying No to their own division, which would have been understandable.

Yes, the guaranteed money was a big factor. But I think that would have been negated if you open things up to at least NFC North, South, and East.

Jourdan’s podcast is a coupla days early this week. Ad-free if you have The Athletic.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-the-jalen-ramsey-trade-whats-next-for-rams/id1477535034?i=1000603975002

Grading the Jalen Ramsey trade for the Rams: LA loses this deal

____

Personally, I think the D- grade above is too generous.

I disagree with Whit here:

Jourdan’s podcast is good this week, though she’s not at her best, physically. Working while sick, basically.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/11-personnel-a-show-about-the-los-angeles-rams/id1477535034

She talks about the Rams FO soul searching, recognizing they made some bad decisions, acting “emotionally,” etc. New contracts given to Stafford and others, for example.

Easy inference: their cap hell wasn’t inevitable. So if they cut or trade players to offload salary this offseason . . . it’s not really just the normal ebb and flow of things. Bad choices, made their own bed, etc. etc.

It’s a hopeful sign, however, that they seem to understand this. McVay and company are kinda sorta growing up before our very eyes.

Zooey wrote:

I have to say… the Rams are quite good at identifying talent, and trading appropriate value to obtain it and quite terrible at extracting value for trading away talent they have.

Perhaps we’ve been looking at this sport all wrong for generations. Perhaps it’s not about building the best possible team, to win the most possible games, including the final test, the Super Bowl. Speaking for myself, at least, that’s been my take on things for a long, long time.

But, recently, I’ve had an epiphany of sorts. It struck me the other day when I was doing my usual tour through the countryside in my horse-drawn carriage. As usual, once I left my estates, the masses were massed three or four rows deep, some running alongside the carriage, shouting my name, hoping to get a glimpse of my Shakespearean troupe and me . . . and so I thought: “What do the people really want in life? They don’t want victories. They just want to know that every NFL player winds up with the team of their dreams, and it’s the duty of every Front Office to make that happen, no matter how difficult or costly this may be.”

And as if they had read my thoughts, several among the adoring masses had signs that said “I desire we may be better strangers!”

Mark my words: McVay/Snead will one day be recognized as true revolutionaries, right up there with Spartacus, Kropotkin, Mrs. Maisel, and Rick Astley.

Good overview of top tight ends and wideouts, focusing on their Combines:

8 combine standouts at WR and TE for the Rams to target

Rams need Edge, first and foremost. Probably two of them. But if they trade Ramsey, that pushes CB up there as well. They should be able to net a 1st rounder for Ramsey, so that could go for the best Edge available. With #36, I’d take Banks, if he’s there.

Not a good idea to lock yourself into the above, of course. Keep yer options open. But I like picking for need early, and then going for freakiest athlete/BPA later. Ideally, you get the trifecta. Need/BPA/Freakiest athlete. But I think the chances of that trifecta diminish with each passing round. Even within each round.

Also, if their board has a bloc of guys with similar grades, say five or six, do your best to trade back within that range. I also think they should start trading up later. Trade down early. Trade back up later. Or don’t. It all depends.

(Don’t get too cute, IOW. If a great player is there, at #36, take him.)

Overall, I’d rank their needs like this: Edge (maybe two), CB (especially if Ramsey goes), G, C, TE, S, WR, RB. I want them to find a size/speed/jump ball wideout. Not a strong draft for wr, apparently, but they should be able to find a small school hidden gem late.

In short, I’m a greedy fan. In no way am I trying to minimize the Super Bowl victory. My fandom goes back to 1966, and I was thrilled.

I just want them to keep winning, and make the best possible decisions to make that more likely. I’m guessing that’s the case for everyone on this forum.

The Rams built a Super Bowl winner by drafting and trading for a few elite players, surrounding them with solid complementary teammates, mostly from later rounds and UDFAs.

Their model reset the NFL market, but as Jourdan has mentioned, their own success caused it to reset again, pretty much beyond their own ability to stay in the game. In so many words, they priced themselves out of their own revolution.

So how will they respond this year? They still lack the cap space and the draft picks to seriously alter course, and if they trade Ramsey, that just creates another hole. I really have no idea how they’re going to make this work.

Oh, to be in Chicago’s shoes! The first pick and something like 98 million in cap space. I’d trade down a few spots, pick up another coupla firsts and seconds, draft Jalen Carter or Will Anderson . . . and go crazy on the FA market.

Wish the Rams had those options.

Zooey wrote:

The Floyd and Ramsey stuff has to be placed in the “Rumor” category until it happens, but the way the wind is blowing, it sure seems like the Rams are clearing cap space by getting rid of players who seemed to be at the core of the philosophy that won them a Super Bowl. It seemed apparent to me that the Rams were investing in critical superstars, and filling the roster with players they acquired by stockpiling a lot of 3rd day draft picks. Now they seem to be shedding that core, and I don’t know what to make of that. To me, losing Wagner, Floyd, and Ramsey without apparent heirs on the roster is crazy. We are now down to Donald on defense. On offense, there is Kupp and an aging Stafford. And whatever Cam Akers shows up. That’s not a competitive roster. And I don’t get it.

Agree with all of that. Plus, if the Rams are down to just Donald, will he stick around beyond this year? I kinda doubt it.

Kupp turns 30 this summer. Stafford turned 35 this month. Donald seems ageless, so I don’t worry about him, other than the likely retirement.  But I’m not getting a sense of this team’s overall philosophy regarding core and complementary players anymore. It seemed pretty clear before their Super Bowl season how they were building toward that. Not this season, though.

Winning the Super Bowl was glorious, and the Rams get major props for all of that. They did it their way, etc. But did the aftermath have to go like this? Couldn’t they have found some way to sustain the winning and the window a bit longer?

Does anyone here understand how a March release can have a Post-June 1st cut designation?

NFL rules and regs are weird.