[OldSchool]

I'd love if we get to the point with our drafting under Snead where free agency means we resign our own and only an outside FA or two at most. The rest we replace with more good drafting.

[Elvis]

[Elvis]

Being a hot commodity coming off of your rookie contract, for most players, is the best position they'll ever be in to make big money. It's, quite likely, a once in a life time opportunity...

[ramsman34]

Rams will have to overpay or give more guaranteed money to keep them from shopping around. I know it is almost all about the $$ but most players want to win and I think these guys know how good this defense really can and will be. Coupled with the lure of L.A., it might just be enough to get them and Barron and McLeod re signed.

[ramsman34]

Where the trouble lies is if the Pats or broncos or Packers, Panthers...Superbowl contenders..make a serious contract offer. then, the lure of playoffs/Superbowl + equal $$ will probably be enough for them to move on.

The high-stakes poker begins!

[Elvis]

Right now these are talking like they're a package deal, which is good for us...

Tru posted this with the caption: Package Deal. #FreeAgents

[Hacksaw]

We need to keep the secondary intact.. We also need a stud QB Our man Snead has done fairly well and the team looks a lot more attractive than before,,, but as ramsman34 points out, everyone want's to win it all. That could sway the 3 amigos into different directions. Hope not.

[Elvis]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... e-johnson/

Rams consider transition tag for Trumaine Johnson

Posted by Michael David Smith on February 20, 2016, 2:24 PM EST

The Los Angeles Rams may use the transition tag to retain cornerback Trumaine Johnson.

Johnson, who had seven interceptions last season, is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the start of the league year. There’s been talk that Johnson could be franchised, but Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Rams might place the transition tag, not the franchise tag, on Johnson if the two sides don’t reach a long-term deal.

Like the franchise tag, the transition tag gives a team the right to match an offer one of its free agents signs. So if the Rams put the transition tag on Johnson and he signs with another team, they could choose to keep him by matching the offer. That’s what the Browns did two years ago with center Alex Mack, who signed an offer sheet with the Jaguars that the Browns matched.

For the Rams, the advantage to using the transition tag instead of the franchise tag is that it wouldn’t cost them as much if Johnson ends up signing the tender offer and playing this season on the tag. The franchise tag salary for cornerbacks this season is expected to be $13.7 million, while the transition tag salary for cornerbacks is expected to be $11.7 million.

Last year, one player got the transition tag: Dolphins tight end Charles Clay, who ended up signing an offer sheet with the Bills that the Dolphins declined to match. When a transition tagged player switches teams, the original team does not get draft pick compensation.

[Elvis]

Florio with counterpoint:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... tle-sense/

Transition tag continues to make little sense

Posted by Mike Florio on February 21, 2016, 9:40 AM EST

In the years before the transition tag did not become fully guaranteed upon signing, it made some sense to use it. And multiple teams did. Since the transition tag became fully guaranteed as part of the 2006 CBA extension, it has been used more sparingly.

The reason is simple. To use the transition tag, a significant investment on a one-year guaranteed deal is required, and if the player signs an offer sheet elsewhere that isn’t matched, there’s no compensation. By kicking in a little more on a one-year deal, the current team gets two first-round picks if the player leaves — which means for most players that he won’t be leaving.

But teams still use it, even though the end result in recent years hasn’t been great. When the Browns applied it to center Alex Mack, Mack finagled an offer sheet from the Jaguars with a provision allowing him to void the deal after two years. Now, two years later, the Browns have to worry about whether Mack will leave, along with what it may take to keep him to stay.

Last year, the Dolphins used the transition tag on tight end Charles Clay, who was gobbled up by a division rival with an offer sheet Miami wouldn’t match.

In both cases, another million or two on a one-year franchise tender would have kept that from happening.

So why do teams keep using the transition tag? Some may be doing it just to see what the player’s value is, knowing that if it’s too high they’ll let him walk. Others possibly don’t want the franchise tender to lay the foundation for a long-term deal.

Regardless, if anyone gets the transition tag this year (the Rams have leaked that they’re considering it with cornerback Trumaine Johnson), there’s no reason to think the outcome will be any different than what has happened the last two years. Either Johnson will get an offer sheet the Rams can’t or won’t match, or he’ll get an offer sheet with a legitimate poison pill embedded in it.

Whatever happens, don’t expect Johnson to adopt the same approach as former Steelers tackle Max Starks. When Pittsburgh applied the transition tag to Starks in 2008 — and once he realized the salary became fully guaranteed when the tender is accepted — Starks signed it. Johnson, per a league source, won’t be signing the transition tender, if it’s applied. Instead, he’ll be doing exactly what Mack did in 2014 and what Clay did in 2015: Looking aggressively for an offer from another team.

[Hacksaw]

"Johnson, per a league source, won’t be signing the transition tender, if it’s applied. Instead, he’ll be doing exactly what Mack did in 2014 and what Clay did in 2015: Looking aggressively for an offer from another team."

This isn't good news. We need to lock this deal up. If the 3 amigos are a pkg deal, let's hope those other 2 amigos are nudging TruJo our way.