I’m thick about contract stuff. But.

It’s my understanding that one cannot renegotiate to give back salary. On paper at least a monetary gain needs to appear, even if it’s extended out into the future.

If I am correct in understanding this, then a renegotiated deal would have to project whatever that last year’s salary is out into the future. That’s a lot of money.

And the question is, what would they gain for agreeing to that sort of projected money? The only thing would be protection from another team signing Sam.

And I just simply do not see that as a threat. The league as a whole does not believe in Sam. They suspect his ability, but crucially they will absolutely not trust his knee until MORE THAN 1 year has elapsed. The fact that his reconstruction couldn’t hold up to slight contact almost year out from his first injury is going to mean that nobody will want to risk anything on his playing next year. Even if someone did take that risk, it would be for very low dollars, it wouldn’t be for a starting position, and they’d really like to see someone else take the risk of the 1st year back.

And if that’s true for others, then it’s true for the Rams as well. Why on earth should they negotiate a deal involving many millions when they can, if they wish, sign him for a couple million cuttable dollars? If they REALLY want him, they can just beat someone else’s low ball offer.

And even at that, it doesn’t solve the problem. The whole notion of a “prove-it” contract with Sam makes little sense to this franchise. The “prove-it” aspect is the injury, and the injury means they absolutely cannot TRUST the future of the QB position to him. They MUST seek another long term option. They could draft a good bet to develop behind Hill–assuming he does well and stays healthy–or they can sign a good, mid-career vet, with the money saved from Bradford helping finance that option. If they can do that, then MAYBE they’d consider re-signing Sam for depth. But they must have a more trustworthy option for next year.

So why should they re-negotiate with Sam rather than simply cutting him and maybe re-signing him? It makes no sense to me at all.

Sam has a strong incentive to want to renegotiate. Indeed. But I cannot see what the team has to gain by doing so.

I can’t imagine a scenario in which the team would offer to renegotiate. It’s hard for me to imagine him on the team next year. But if it happens, it will be for peanuts and only after a more viable option is acquired.

A good development.

You know, this could make something of a difference. For all the macho idiots out there, the NFL is Valhalla. The whole football culture that demeans women finds its ultimate expression in the league. The fact that football players can get away with all of this helps guys rationalize.

With this, as you say Mac, there may begin to be some degree of consequences for morons like Winston. It could make something of a difference … decrease the immunity level a bit, start to challenge the assumption that hitting women is OK.

I know, I know. Maybe just a little bit?

wv wrote:

Well, I have to hope Boudreau knows what
he’s doing.

Its possible its just ‘rust’.

Thats all i got.

w
v

LOL. Not much here to hope in.

You know, Boudreau is a good coach. But he can’t manufacture talent. A good coach can lift a player’s ceiling by, what, 10-12%? Right now, I doubt that’s enough. I am not willing to just say “In Boudreau we trust.”

Right now, with Long suspect and Saffold gimpy we got virtually nothing at LOT.

And you know I must say that Long himself seems to have a teflon reputation. People talk about him as if he’s a quality player. But I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anyone take a realistic look at his pass blocking. It ain’t pretty. It wasn’t great and it’s now pretty awful.

We can hope that it’s “rust,” a very slippery term. I think it’s generally a weak way to look at things. Hundreds of players come back from injury and are never the same. Long has been repeatedly injured–we got him coming off injuries. And I’ve never seen him look good in a Rams jersey–especially pass blocking.

Jake Long really is not playing well. To me, it is a serious concern, and I am not mollified by the magic word “rust.”

They captured the feeling of Ram fans after the injury very well: Anthony called it being a battered girlfriend.

Anthony made some good points about how they’ve reduced Robby’s chances of success by moving him around the OL rather than plugging him into one position.

My concern is with him staying healthy.

Not based on anything. Just a 34 year old behind a leaky OL.

I actually have some confidence he’ll play pretty well.

Hill should provide a steady hand for a run-first offense.

Pundits keep saying this. I don’t buy it.

I think I am actually inclined to go further than ZN does. I think we will be a pass first offense this year. That’s what I am seeing out there. And frankly it’s what we’ve seen much of the time since Fish got here.

I love our RBs. Our OL has run blocking potential, but I don’t see much evidence right now that they can just pound the ball play after play.

Against CLE, it was the passing game that got thing going and kept us producing. Runs happened, but several were QB scrambles and garbage time PS match-ups. I saw little evidence that the OL was so good that it could open holes against massed defense.

Understand, I am not saying our running game sux. It doesn’t.

What I am saying is that indications suggest that the passing game will set up the run rather than the other way ’round. That COULD change if our passing game decisively pushed secondaries off the LOS. But it isn’t the case now.

If our offense is to go, Hill has to throw the ball on those medium-length routes ZN and I always natter on about. I think he’ll do it better than people realize, though not perhaps well enough to lift the O into the top dozen. And I fear for his health.

But I do not SEE a “run-first” offense emerging on the field.

“I was going to play as long as they kept me in there,” Long said. “I was feeling good, and I was moving around well and was really happy with it so I wanted to get out there, get the game speed and knock the rust off.”

Guy is a fraud.

Sanchez has no interest in bolting from a reserve job in Philly for a chance to immediately start for the Rams.

This is horse hockey. You gonna tell me a one-time star QB wouldn’t rather start for an upcoming team than sit on the bench for one stuck in a rut?

If it’s true, then we REALLY don’t want him.

But I really doubt it’s true.

I s’pose it’s PR for Iggle fans.

zn wrote:

And, Fisher has said, it is not true that they’ve looked at anyone. So Wagoner has his facts wrong. They might do it–but, they haven’t at this point.

I am not sure Fisher’s public denial proves that Wagoner has wrong facts.

Personally, I feel that, if the FO ISN’T pursuing viable options like Sanchez, they aren’t showing due diligence. I would really hate to believe it.

Hearing Fisher say, “We will rally around Shaun Hill”…

The parallelism of that, with Fisher replacing Vermeil…is just staggering.

I’m almost MORE excited now…

My friend, I can’t share your optimism. That was a once in a century situation. Ain’t gonna happen again.

but the more i think about it. the rams might just have to cut him. i don’t know. i don’t know what makes more financial sense at this point.

Yeah. I’m starting to think that.

They cannot risk a big cap number for next year on him. They can’t.

‘Course, I never follow the financials. I dunno how much cap savings it would mean. But if it’s substantive, then he has to be cut.

Ya know, no one is going to fight us for him if he is cut.

Here’s what Nick Wagoner says at ESPN (link). It bears thinking about:

Taking it a step further, it was also fair to wonder whether the Rams should have more strongly considered a quarterback at the top of the draft because they might never draft in such lofty territory again. In Fisher’s 18 full seasons as a head coach, his teams have had seven or more wins 15 times. He’s had one season each with four, five and six wins.

In other words, Fisher’s teams almost always find a way to a baseline of mediocrity that doesn’t yield many opportunities to draft franchise quarterbacks. The average first-round draft position of Fisher’s teams, not including picks gained in trade, is 17.9.

On the two occasions his Tennessee teams picked in the top three, they drafted a quarterback both times, one being the home run that was Steve McNair, the other being the whiff that was Vince Young.

Such is life when betting your franchise’s future on a young quarterback. It’s a bet the Rams weren’t prepared to make again while waiting to see if the one they made on Bradford in 2010 would pay off.

As for me, I never wanted the Rams to draft a QB. I believed in Sam. I refused to believe he was injury prone.

But, now that Sam is basically ruined goods, we do have to face facts. The franchise gambled on Sam and we have now lost the bet.

And it’s hard to find good QBs. Really hard.

Furthermore, NW is right–Fish generally hangs up enough wins to keep his team out of the top slots in which quality QBs generally go.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if we ended up doing what WASH did … trading draft picks for a top QB pick?

Guys, I’ve always liked Sam a lot. I’ve defended him and figured he got lots of unfair, bad raps.

But.

2 ACLs on one knee?

In my view he is toast. He’s toast in this sense:

There is no way to trust him to remain healthy. No way.

Look, here’s my sense of how they went into this year. They were firm in seeing this as Sam’s offense. Very firm.

However, they were wondering about his health. He has not been robust going all the way back to college. They were wondering if they could really trust him with a whole season. That’s why they were flirting with thoughts of Manziel.

OK, what about next year? Well, there is no way they can simply put the offense in Sam’s hands. He has played, what, 6.5 games in 2 years? 2 ACLs in one knee? There is absolutely no way to count on him for a significant number of games next year, much less a whole season.

Now, I am not calling on the team to dump him. I’d be happy to see them give him another year to compete, as guys are saying. But they CANNOT go into next year without having another viable option as a starting QB. Vet or young guy? I dunno. But they absolutely cannot put the team in his hands for next year.

It’s very, very sad for me. But in my view, he is more or less finished as a starting QB.

Thing is, Westbrooks has the profile to be a younger version. Can play inside and out.

No way he gets cut or exposed to the waiver wire. Potential stud.

Sam isn’t as clear a case, but he sure seems to have potential to develop.