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ZooeyModeratorApparently the giddiness generated by Donald’s retirement is starting to wane. Now he’s compensating by fantasizing about Stafford getting hurt. What’s next, Puka going blind?
Puka would still be a top 10 receiver even if he went blind, but I see the point you’re trying to make.
ZooeyModeratorI did not realize Anchrum was a FA, and I can’t say I’m happy.
ZooeyModeratorCan you imagine if Stafford got hurt the week before a 49er game, and JG started for the Rams against Shanahan? w v
The closet Seahawks fan is out of the closet. Again.
ZooeyModerator
March 18, 2024 at 12:57 pm in reply to: Just a thread for different kindsa interesting things #150005ZooeyModeratorMaking a pot out of clay in 1 minute pic.twitter.com/MPImthdJcc
— schuld (@schuld_eth) March 18, 2024
ZooeyModeratordid not see this #royalannouncement coming pic.twitter.com/3p8gRCACwO
— JRR Jokien (@joshcarlosjosh) March 18, 2024
ZooeyModeratorConspiracy theory on the net: AD will come back for the stretch drive like Eric Weddle. Me: Nah. That isn’t the way the man operates. He never took a shortcut in his life.
How does Aaron Donald’s retirement impact salary cap? Rams leave door open for return
OverTheCap broke down how Aaron Donald’s retirement impacts the Rams salary capBy Blaine Grisak
https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2024/3/16/24103004/rams-cap-space-aaron-donald-retirement-free-agency
The outlook for the Los Angeles Rams offseason took a completely different turn on Friday when Aaron Donald announced his retirement from the NFL. With Donald retiring, one of the biggest questions has been how it will impact the Rams salary cap. Prior to Donald’s announcement, it was reported that the team restructured his deal, opening up $9.2M in cap space. With that said, the restructure and retirement also has other implications.
Jason Fitzgerald from OverTheCap did a fantastic job breaking down Donald’s contract and how his retirement impacts the Rams salary cap. Here is what Fitzgerald had to say,
“Per a source with knowledge of the contract this was not a typical restructure where salary was just converted to a signing bonus. In this case the Rams converted his $5 million roster bonus, which was already guaranteed, to a signing bonus. They took $8.79 million of his salary, which was going to become guaranteed in a few days, and added it to his $20 million option bonus…The restructured contract, in light of Donald’s retirement, reads a bit more like salary cap maneuvering by the Rams to keep the door open to Donald possibly coming back to the team. If both sides were 100% on the retirement they would have simply bought his salary this year down to $1.21 million and taken out the option and roster bonuse. My guess is they want to leave the door wide open for him to come back. By doing the restructure, the Rams brought Donald’s salary cap number down to $24.97 million. Placing Donald on the retirement list would have caused the Rams to take on a $28.5 million cap charge at a minimum so this gives the Rams a little more room to work with.”
Even though Donald is retired, that doesn’t put the Rams off the hook from paying him, opening up $30M in cap space. His contract is still on the books and the Rams still have to pay Donald what he is owed. However, they can structure things in a way that works for both sides and maximizes their available cap space.
With how Fitzgerald describes it, the Rams are leaving the option for Donald to return in the case that he does end up changing his mind. While unexpected, it is possible and not totally out of the realm of possibility. We’ve seen the play out recently with players like Tom Brady who retired and then un-retired. There are also things that the Rams can do with some of the bonuses and options in the contract that they can restructure.
Said Fitzgerald,
“By deferring his salary into the option it also gives the Rams a chance to keep Donald on the roster through June, if they want, and place him on the retired list at that point. It also gives Donald months to consider if he wants to return since the contract is simply waiting for him if he returns to the NFL this year or any year in the future. If the team waits until June they should be able to split the salary cap charges across two years, though the cap charges are contingent on the way his signing bonus works. If the signing bonus is a legit bonus then the money should count towards dead money in 2024 and 2025. If it is earned but no money ever changes hands prior to the retirement the NFL will likely just disregard the bonus. If there is money paid and the team is later paid back the Rams will take a charge in 2024 with an offsetting credit coming in 2025.”
Reading Fitzgerald’s full explanation of Donald’s contract and the retirement implications is certainly worth checking out as there are several dead money scenarios depending on what the Rams decide to do. There’s a scenario in which the Rams could also restructure the contract once again to remove some of the option bonuses, lowering his cap-hit to $14.2M.
Again, Donald’s retirement doesn’t necessarily help the Rams from a salary cap perspective as they still have to pay out his contract. They can do minor things with some of the bonuses and options that will give them a little more room to work with. As it stands, the Rams opened up $9.2M with Friday’s restructure which could help bring in another low-value free agent.
ZooeyModeratorOkay.
Just don’t draft Bill Hawkins, Adam Carriker, or Sean Gilbert.
ZooeyModeratorConspiracy theory on the net: AD will come back for the stretch drive like Eric Weddle.
Me: Nah. That isn’t the way the man operates. He never took a shortcut in his life.
ZooeyModeratorTHANK GOD.😂😅🫡
— Kyler Murray (@K1) March 15, 2024
ZooeyModeratorHonored to have competed against the best of All-Time! @AaronDonald97
Enjoy ya retirement and plz don’t come back.🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/DcVhCMw0vv
— Kyler Murray (@K1) March 15, 2024
ZooeyModeratorI had a full day today, but I caught about 5 minutes of the SF station that carries the 9ers, and the conversation was all about if any teams out there had one guy whose retirement (or without whom) would completely change the team. I’m guessing the 5-10 minutes prior to my getting in the car was all about AD.
They said they think the Rams are still a strong #2 in the division. But I’m guessing a lot of teams are relieved.
ZooeyModerator
I am not okay, btw. Someone should send out some mental health experts to check on me.
Tell them to bring a handle of vodka and, I dunno, I guess a couple of hookers. I don’t know what else to do. I guess I’ll just wake up in a bathtub somewhere, and assume I had a good time.
ZooeyModeratorMy first reaction was disappointment. Like…last night, I was pretty excited about the Rams’ offseason. Excellent so far.
Then…A-a-ron retires. Then Jimmy G gets signed the same day. The Raiders dumped him, ffs. I was hoping Wentz would resign, though I didn’t think it was likely.
But. Actually, Jimmy G isn’t a bad backup. He won a lot of games, and got to the SB. He may be better than Wentz, for all I know. He is certainly the best backup since Keenum. At the very least. So. Yay. I guess.
ZooeyModeratorCheers to what’s next. Extending a big thank you to the Rams and all of the fans for your support over these last 10 years. Much love. 🍾🙏🏽💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/edGxkUYdLz
— AD_99 (@AaronDonald97) March 15, 2024
ZooeyModeratorAlright. Good. This guy is valuable.
ZooeyModeratorI don’t get it. What’s the catch?
Here’s a list of all the Safeties on the Top 100 FA Tracker at CBS, their ranking in the 100, and what they signed for:
9. Antoine Winfield (TB) – Franchise tagged (1 year, $17.1 million)
23. Kamren Curl (LA) – 2 years, worth up to $13 million
29. Xavier McKinney (GB) – 4 years, $68 million
36. Kyle Dugger (NE) – Transition tagged (1 year, $13.8 million)
47. Julian Blackmon (IND) – TBD
48. Geno Stone (CIN) – 2 years, $15 million
71. Jordan Fuller (LA) – TBD
86. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (yes, that’s his real name) (PHI) – 3 years, worth up to $33 million
97. Jordan Whitehead (TB) – 2 years, $9 millionIf you take those rankings seriously, by far the best value on that list is Kam Curl. It’s eye-popping value.
Maybe it’s timing. Maybe all the teams that were Serious about signing a Safety had already done so, and the remaining teams were looking at their cap space, and calculating the draft, and just figured, “Nah.” And maybe that left Curl hanging in a bad year to be a FA for safeties. I dunno. But the first 12 hours of information suggest that Lester Snead has done it again.
ZooeyModeratorCurl looks like a steal, especially for the price. Don’t know why he signed a 2-year deal for a fraction of what other safeties signed for, and he’s rated the #2 FA Safety by CBS, #23 FA overall. PFF rates him as #21 overall, and rated him the #4 safety in the league in 2022.
Beyond that, folks on twitter are going somewhat bonkers, bitching that their favorite team did not sign him, especially at the price the Rams are getting him for.
ZooeyModeratorZooeyModeratorCan confirm, as @BenStandig reported, Kam Curl to Rams two year deal per sources.
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) March 15, 2024
ZooeyModeratori’m most heartened by the fact that he wanted to be here. he could have tested the market and squeezed some more money out of another team. but he was happy in la. he likes this team. and also. the rams didn’t try to play any games with him. they valued him. they showed that with the contract they offered him. and that was enough for him to just sign the contract and stay and try to build on what he and the team accomplished last season. i think that can only have a positive effect on how dotson and the team approach 2024.
Jonah Jackson said something similar.
His agent called.
“He was like, ‘What do you think of Los Angeles?’ and I was like, ‘Doesn’t sound too shabby,'” Jackson said. “We talked about it. It sounded like the right move – good weather, good place to be, good winning culture, great staff. Everything overall was just a plus, so we couldn’t deny that.”
Jackson acknowledged he had other opportunities to weigh in free agency, but the familiarity – as well as the offer – the Rams presented made it too good to pass up.
“Once I heard the Rams were willing to do what they did and be able to go somewhere and potentially win it all, there was no denying it,” he said. “There were some teams, maybe we could have done some more, but I wanted the perfect balance of being able to set my family up for life and be able to win football games.”
I was hoping the culture would be a draw to FA, and it looks like it is. For some of them, anyway.
ZooeyModeratorI havent heard a single word on the Rams and what they are doing. But, man, i like what they have done so far.
Yep.
So far, they have been brilliant, albeit under the national radar.
They need a few more pieces, but they are well-positioned to get them.
Outstanding questions include: Wentz, Noteboom, and Witherspoon.
Positional needs: K, S, CB, Edge, LBs, KR, RB, QB
ZooeyModeratorI was a-thinkin maybe the Rams would get Flacco. Who’s gonna be the backup? w v
I haven’t seen Carson Wentz’s name in print in any context whatsoever this offseason.
But he didn’t pull a Baker.
ZooeyModeratorI expect a rotation during the season, but one that probably heavily features Parkinson. IMO, in Parkinson they got what they primarily wanted from a TE replacement for Higbee–a blocker. At this point, neither Allen nor Long is the blocker Parkinson is, or at least it looks that way from here.
Yep. His signing, as well as Jackson’s, is telling us that the Rams intend to run the football.
And I would be very surprised if a RB isn’t high on their draft board because – as you have pointed out numerous times – KW ain’t gonna carry the ball 25 times 17.
They can get one of the best RBs in the country in Round 3, looks like.
ZooeyModeratorZooeyModeratorMy 22 cents. In the first 4 picks I want to see: * a trade down making it 5 in rounds 1-3 (ie. they can get another 3 with a modest trade down) * spend 4 of those 5 picks in rounds 1-3 on LB/edge, DL, and CB. If the players are there I would make it 2 CBs. 1st rounder is the best player at one of those 3 positions. * spend 1 of those 5 picks (likely a 3) on RB. Why RB? They went 9/4 with WMs playing and 1/3 without. I don’t think any of the backs currently have on the roster after Wms is capable of carrying them if Wms misses time (and he was dinged up twice last year, including against the Lions). So another back, one with the potential to be a 1000 yarder. Wms is a rare find and they won’t find another Qms but they can find someone better than the other options they have right now. After the first 5 picks, they need more OL, a qb, a K, and another WR. Maybe another DB. I don’t want them taking an OT high. We already know AJ is solid. He came through in the 2nd half of the season last year. And with a strong IOL (which they now absolutely have), you can start a solid as opposed to elite LOT and have a great OL.
That’s fine, but the ante on this board has risen to a full quarter.
That aside, I agree with this – unless there is a guy at one of those positions who should have gone in the top 10-12, but dropped because there was an unexpected run at some other position.
I read somewhere today that AJ was tied for 1st in pass protection among OTs who played 500+ snaps. Apparently, AJ yielded one sack all year. I also read they were tendering him at 2nd round which means they will have him for $5M or so this year. They need a backup there, not a starter. They have a starter. So… yeah.
ZooeyModeratorAnyway, I cant see how the Eagles can replace Kelce. I suspect its the biggest single-player loss in the NFL this year.
Some guy on the radio was saying yesterday that Kelce was a locker room leader, and he soured on the coach whatshisface-starts-with-an-S.
In his opinion, losing Kelce was losing the locker room, and that Philly could have their end-of-the-season flameout continue into next year because Coach whatshisface may not get the team back together.
ZooeyModeratorLast year’s draft was insanely good, and the Rams are going into this draft in a very good position. With their 11 picks, if the Rams strike gold on a CB and a pass rusher, they’re in the the hunt.
They are mostly set on the offensive side of the ball. The nailed the OL, they resigned Robinson, and they replaced Higbee. A complimentary RB would make them more dangerous, but the O is set. They will be drafting for depth and the future there, not immediate starter needs. That’s incredible, actually.
Looks to me like the draft will focus mostly on defense and STs.
On defense, they have some quality up front. Hitting on both Turner and Young was amazing. They got Jones in the middle, and Lake in the back looks pretty good. Williams is an upgrade at CB. I can’t imagine that anybody is going to bowl Johnson over with an offer, so the Rams can probably keep him. I have a feeling Witherspoon and Fuller are gone, but my feelings don’t amount to much in the way of evidence.
So there are plenty of places that could stand an upgrade. The Rams didn’t get much out of the non-Aaron Donald DE spot, or the LBs outside of Jones. If they could get a disruptive DE or strongside LB, that would be great. A top-notch CB would be great. If they could hit on those 2 picks, they can do whatever they like with the remaining 9, and I’ll be happy. Well…8. Because I would like a K who can hit FGs.
ZooeyModeratorLove to see it.
The game is won by keeping your QB’s jersey clean, and making the opposing QB bleed all over his.
ZooeyModerator
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