2016 Free Agency Talk

[Battlelyon]

Lets try to keep Free agency talk, all signings and departures centralized here.

 

[Battlelyon]

Chris Long open to revisiting contract to stay with Rams
Posted by Josh Alper on January 20, 2016, 9:50 AM EST
Getty Images
The Rams are moving to Los Angeles, which is where defensive end Chris Long’s father Howie called home with the Raiders for all but one of his 13 years with the franchise.

The younger Long feels less than certain that he’ll be making the trip with the team. A knee injury kept Long out of the lineup for four games a year after he missed 10 games after having ankle surgery and he saw less playing time upon his return to action than he was getting before he got hurt. Long had 33 sacks from 2011 to 2013, but he’s added just four to the total in the last two years.

All of that doesn’t add up to the team-high $14.25 million that Long is set to count against the cap in 2016, the final year of his contract with the Rams. He’d like to play out that year with the team, but knows that it might take a pay cut for that to happen after the way the last couple of years have gone. He’s not opposed to it, even if his Powerball bid fell short.

“Of course,” Long said, via ESPN.com. “But I’m not a guy that, I mean, the last two years I have been paid more than I’ve performed. That’s just the bottom line. It’s a business. Sometimes teams win and sometimes teams lose with that stuff so you’re certainly not rushing to give the money you earned back. You can’t control certain things with injuries and such but of course I’m open to doing something like that. It’s not about the money at this point for me.”

Eugene Sims and William Hayes are both set to be free agents, which doesn’t leave much at defensive end beyond Long and Robert Quinn. As in all cases involving a pay cut, though, the key will be finding a number that works for both the Rams and Long.

 

[SJ76]

2 words:


Sam Bradford

 

[SJ76]

We need to make sure we lock up Trumaine Johnson is what we need to do. Dip$h!ts should have locked him up before the season.

He's as close to a Richard Sherman clone as anyone out there. Why the FO couldn't see it is another mystery.

 

[Battlelyon]

I'm very interested to see who we spend the franchise tag on.

 

[RamsFan88]

Of the 12 UFA's, the only guys I want back are Johnson, Barron, Hayes, Sims, Harkey, Quick and Barnes.

Of the RFA's, Davis, Bates and Reynolds are all I want back.

 

[Vitamike]

Of the RFA's, Davis, Bates and Reynolds are all I want back.

Do you let any of these guys test the market and match?

 

[Vitamike]

I'm very interested to see who we spend the franchise tag on.

Who are your suspects?

Position Player FA Status
QB Case Keenum RFA
RB Benny Cunningham RFA
RB Chase Reynolds RFA
RB Malcolm Brown ERFA
TE Cory Harkey UFA
WR Brian Quick UFA
WR Nick Toon ERFA
WR Wes Welker UFA
C Tim Barnes UFA
OT Isaiah Battle ERFA
OL Eric Kush ERFA
OL Brian Folkerts RFA
K Greg Zuerlein UFA
DT Nick Fairley UFA
DT Doug Worthington ERFA
DT Louis Trinca-Pasat ERFA
DE Eugene Sims UFA
DE William Hayes UFA
DE Matt Longacre ERFA
OLB Daren Bates RFA
CB Janoris Jenkins UFA
CB Trumaine Johnson UFA
CB Eric Patterson ERFA
CB Troy Hill ERFA
SS Mark Barron UFA
FS Rodney McLeod UFA
FS Christian Bryant ERFA
FS Cody Davis RFA

 

[LongtimeRamsFan42]

Who are your suspects?

Position Player FA Status
QB Case Keenum RFA
RB Benny Cunningham RFA
RB Chase Reynolds RFA
RB Malcolm Brown ERFA
TE Cory Harkey UFA
WR Brian Quick UFA
WR Nick Toon ERFA
WR Wes Welker UFA
C Tim Barnes UFA
OT Isaiah Battle ERFA
OL Eric Kush ERFA
OL Brian Folkerts RFA
K Greg Zuerlein UFA
DT Nick Fairley UFA
DT Doug Worthington ERFA
DT Louis Trinca-Pasat ERFA
DE Eugene Sims UFA
DE William Hayes UFA
DE Matt Longacre ERFA
OLB Daren Bates RFA
CB Janoris Jenkins UFA
CB Trumaine Johnson UFA
CB Eric Patterson ERFA
CB Troy Hill ERFA
SS Mark Barron UFA
FS Rodney McLeod UFA
FS Christian Bryant ERFA
FS Cody Davis RFA

I think we need to franchise Nick Toon, if that SOB hits the open market, you never know what might happen

 

[Vitamike]

I think we need to franchise Nick Toon, if that SOB hits the open market, you never know what might happen

Too bad is really isn't our tag guy!

I could hear the chant now...


TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whenever he made a great play!!

 

[LongtimeRamsFan42]

Too bad is really isn't our tag guy!

I could hear the chant now...


TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whenever he made a great play!!

Truth is, I'd rather we didn't have to tag anyone...Usually ends up pissing off the player, the team, or both.

 

[RamsFan88]

Do you let any of these guys test the market and match?

I doubt any of them get more than the minimum.

 

[27mtrcougar]

I'm very interested to see who we spend the franchise tag on.

I'm very interested to see who we spend the franchise tag on.

I would sign Jenkins or Johnson.. Very unlikely they will do both with EJ Gains coming back. Then I would Tag Rodney McLeod. He was one of the best safeties In the NFL this year. But the Rams don't use the Tag very much.

 

[27mtrcougar]

Chris Long open to revisiting contract to stay with Rams
Posted by Josh Alper on January 20, 2016, 9:50 AM EST
View attachment 79349Getty Images
The Rams are moving to Los Angeles, which is where defensive end Chris Long’s father Howie called home with the Raiders for all but one of his 13 years with the franchise.

The younger Long feels less than certain that he’ll be making the trip with the team. A knee injury kept Long out of the lineup for four games a year after he missed 10 games after having ankle surgery and he saw less playing time upon his return to action than he was getting before he got hurt. Long had 33 sacks from 2011 to 2013, but he’s added just four to the total in the last two years.

All of that doesn’t add up to the team-high $14.25 million that Long is set to count against the cap in 2016, the final year of his contract with the Rams. He’d like to play out that year with the team, but knows that it might take a pay cut for that to happen after the way the last couple of years have gone. He’s not opposed to it, even if his Powerball bid fell short.

“Of course,” Long said, via ESPN.com. “But I’m not a guy that, I mean, the last two years I have been paid more than I’ve performed. That’s just the bottom line. It’s a business. Sometimes teams win and sometimes teams lose with that stuff so you’re certainly not rushing to give the money you earned back. You can’t control certain things with injuries and such but of course I’m open to doing something like that. It’s not about the money at this point for me.”

Eugene Sims and William Hayes are both set to be free agents, which doesn’t leave much at defensive end beyond Long and Robert Quinn. As in all cases involving a pay cut, though, the key will be finding a number that works for both the Rams and Long.

Good Chris.. how do you feel about the leauge minimum?

 

[shopson67]

Keenum is a lock to be re-signed, and I would bring back Barnes as C depth.

Barron, McLeod, Tru and Hayes need to be back. Jenkins, Sims, Benny, and Quick would depend on their demands.

 

[Battlelyon]

Rams want Mark Barron back but where does he fit?

Mark Barron showed a lot in his first full year with the Rams and the team hopes to re-sign him. AP Photo/Billy Hurst

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- If the Los Angeles Rams had wanted, they could already have safety/linebacker Mark Barron under team control for 2016.

Entering last offseason, the Rams had a decision to make on Barron's status for 2016. As a former first-round pick, they held the right to exercise a fifth-year option to retain him for 2016.

They chose to do that with defensive tackle Michael Brockers, whom the Rams drafted No. 14 overall in the 2012 NFL draft, but Barron's case was a bit different. While Barron went No. 7 in that same draft, it was to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Rams acquired Barron via trade midway through the 2014 season and he played 166 snaps in nine games after his arrival. It wasn't enough to convince the Rams to pay the costly freight of the one-year deal that goes with exercising the option.

Fast forward through a 2015 season in which Barron proved himself a valuable cog in the Rams defense, and there's zero doubt that the Rams would like to bring him back into the fold. Only problem is, now they have to re-sign him as an unrestricted free agent.

“We desperately want him back and he wants to come back," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said after the season. "He likes the role. He likes the position. He’s very instinctive around the line of scrimmage."

Although it didn't happen how the Rams would have wanted, Barron had ample opportunity to show his skills in 2015. After starting the season playing a part-time role in the team's "big nickel" package that saw the Rams using three safeties on the field at once, Barron stepped into the weak side linebacker role after Alec Ogletree suffered a season-ending leg/ankle injury.

Officially, the Rams listed Barron as a "weak side safety" but no matter what label the depth chart showed, the best one to describe Barron was "productive." He finished the season with 113 tackles, a sack, three forced fumbles and four pass breakups. Although Ogletree's presence was missed, the Rams fared better than anyone could have expected upon plugging Barron into the role.

Not that having good football players is ever a bad thing, but the Rams now find themselves in the interesting predicament of figuring out Barron's place in the defense and how to maximize that value. Ogletree will be back from his injury, which means Barron could go back to the sub-package spot where he started the season. Another possibility could see the Rams move Ogletree into the middle with Barron back on the weak side. Either way, the Rams must ask themselves if they can find enough snaps for Barron to justify what will presumably be a hefty price.

Fisher believes they will.

"We’ll go back and do our self-scout and those kinds of things here in a few weeks," Fisher said. "But the number of sub packages that we face defensively, from an offensive standpoint, is going to put him on the field. In addition to the nickel back, or (nickel cornerback) Lamarcus [Joyner], you also have the need for that position. So, the game’s changing a little bit. That becomes kind of a starting position for us on defense.”

Especially if it's Barron filling the spot.

 

[zeke2829]

I liked Nick Fairly! I thought he filled in nicely at times. He helped solidify our defense!

 

[shopson67]

I liked Nick Fairly! I thought he filled in nicely at times. He helped solidify our defense!

Not sure he'll take a similar deal again though. He took a one year prove-it salary this past season. I figure he'll price himself out of the mix, and the Rams will draft a DT at some point in the draft.

 

[Battlelyon]

The Los Angeles Rams Should Target Bengals’ Wide Receiver Marvin Jones In Free Agency
By Brandon Bate  @NoPlanB_ on Feb 4, 2016, 2:37p 32


Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

No Alshon Jeffery? No problem!

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Another NFL year has come and gone, and thus begins an offseason where the Los Angeles Rams will be in search of help at the wide receiver position. Will they look to the NFL Draft or free agency for help?

The pool of free agent wide receivers in 2016 is pretty shallow, and it’s Chicago Bears’ receiver Alshon Jeffery who is clearly at the top of the free agent class. In his first four seasons [51 games] in the league, Jeffery amassed 252 catches for 3,728 yards and 24 touchdowns.

But are the Bears simply going to let the best receiver on their team - and one of the better WRs in the entirety of the NFC - simply walk away? Probably not. If the two sides aren’t able to iron out a plan to keep Alshon in the Windy City, they could just as easily use the franchise tag on him. And if he were to test the market, the Rams would need to be willing to sign him for somewhere in the realm of 5 years, $64 million [$12.8M per year] according to Spotrac’s Market Value estimator.

That’s a lot of dough.

But Alshon, while the most coveted, isn’t the only receiver available. Who’s the next best player available in the free agent market?

The Rams should take a look at Bengals’ wide receiver Marvin Jones, who’s openly stated he’s testing the market and won’t be providing the Bengals with any hometown discounts.

"I love Cincinnati, But at the same time, I am a free agent. It wouldn't be good for me not to test the waters a little bit. It's just an exciting process," Jones told NFL Network's Scott Hanson.

Jones, who’s finishing up his rookie deal in Cincy, has played in only 43 games, having missed all of 2014 with ankle and foot injuries. In his sophomore season [2013] - the Bengals’ WR2 behind A.J. Green - finished the year with 51 receptions for 712 yards, and a career-high 10 touchdowns. Any concerns about his health were answered in 2015 when he returned to the field tallying 65 catches, 816 yards, and 4 TD’s.

Jones would clearly be a more cost-friendly addition, as well. Spotrac gives him a market value of $5.5 million per year, or somewhere in the ballpark of four years, $22M. That’s a far cry the $60-70M contract Jeffery will be garnering.

One last potentially minor, possibly major, aspect of luring in Marvin Jones would be his link to the new city in which the Rams will play. The 25-year old Jones was born in Los Angeles, and played college ball at the University of California. He’s made it evident he’s testing the market, and that undoubtedly means he’s looking to get paid, but playing in his hometown, in close proximity to friends and family, would have to be appealing.

Assuming Jeffery gets the tag, or signs elsewhere, other potential wideouts vying for the second biggest payday amongst free agent receivers would be: Anquan Boldin [35], Travis Benjamin [26], and Rueben Randle [24].

 

[shopson67]

I like Marvin, could be a nice fit as a number 2. Still need a number 1, hopefully via the draft...