Rams Fans United - Los Angeles Rams Fan Discussion Forum

But I keep hearing the Rams fell apart when they let those two go.

Doesn't seem like an honest version of the situation. No one is reducing it to just letting Cooks and Gurley go. The Rams have been frivolous with their spending and it's catching up to them. 25% dead cap this year. 32nd in the league in cap space. We'll see if it's no big deal but it doesn't look like a good way to do things.

Dick84 wrote:and he had little to no impact in the passing game.

That has baffled me. For a guy who was sooo good in the passing game to suddenly become completely unproductive is truly baffling. He wasn't just unproductive, he was terrible. For a RB to have a catch percentage of 63%, it's ridiculous. It's not like he was running routes 15 - 20 yards downfield and Sage Rosenfels was throwing him the ball. That's got to be a between the ears issue.

And btw, great post. You're right. It's nowhere near as bad as it's being made out to be.

Dick84 wrote:I'm not having a "let's evaluate the front office" talk.

I'm having a very honest talk about what the impact is on the roster next year.

So.. the impact is two lost players out and a second round pick in. How is that not honest?

It's not the whole truth. Cooks and Gurley are gone but so are many others. Whether directly or tangentially due to the cap and contracts situation.

Limiting the conversation to just Gurley and Cooks, I don't know that they will be as easy to replace as just last year's numbers suggest. They both had down years but neither were in a vacuum.

The committee RB approach may or may not work. None of the Rams RB's looked good last year and that was due in large part to the o-line, which hasn't really been improved. So, lackluster o-line and lackluster RB corps doesn't suggest to me that there will be an improvement to the running game.

Shifting everyone up in the WR corps also worries me. Reynolds and Kupp having to deal with more focused coverage may expose whatever shortcomings they have. Woods isn't a guy to carry a group of receivers.

Adding all that pressure to Goff isn't going to help either.

Hopefully McVay works some magic and some new names emerge as threats but all that leaves for now is "we'll see".

Dick84 wrote:The others who are gone have nothing to do with the dead cap. Those players wouldn't be here because of the Cooks and Gurley contracts, either way.

So, you're having a larger conversation.

I'm talking about the "dead cap" hype. It represents two players. The question is whether their production will actually be missed.

It isn't hype. It's 25% of our cap this year.

The Rams handling of the cap is in serious question right now. Many questioned paying these guys early and it looks to have backfired. I just don't agree with trying to paint this as some sort of positive approach by the Rams. It's just damage control at this point.

Donald was a no-brainer. Everyone else has been a relatively poor decision.

moklerman wrote:The Rams handling of the cap is in serious question right now. Many questioned paying these guys early and it looks to have backfired. I just don't agree with trying to paint this as some sort of positive approach by the Rams. It's just damage control at this point.

Donald was a no-brainer. Everyone else has been a relatively poor decision.

It looks to have backfired on 2...Cooks and Gurley....

Everyone else was a poor decision?

Goff? His cap hit in 2020 is 36 mil.....and it goes down every year after that. His cap hit in 2024 is $26 mil, going into this 9th year, 8th with McVay. While the current phenom QB due a new contract in 2024 will probably be making 45 mil per. That's bad cap management?

They signed Higbee to an extension before he had his breakout year. That's bad cap management?

Come on, we can nitpik the mistakes but let's not ignore the credit that should be given in other areas. They will have close to $50 mil in cap space next year. Will we all be whining and crying about bad cap management then? Oh I suppose if we go 8-8 or 6-10 this year. I'm betting we won't.

PARAM wrote:It looks to have backfired on 2...Cooks and Gurley....

Everyone else was a poor decision?

Goff? His cap hit in 2020 is 36 mil.....and it goes down every year after that. His cap hit in 2024 is $26 mil, going into this 9th year, 8th with McVay. While the current phenom QB due a new contract in 2024 will probably be making 45 mil per. That's bad cap management?

They signed Higbee to an extension before he had his breakout year. That's bad cap management?

Come on, we can nitpik the mistakes but let's not ignore the credit that should be given in other areas. They will have close to $50 mil in cap space next year. Will we all be whining and crying about bad cap management then? Oh I suppose if we go 8-8 or 6-10 this year. I'm betting we won't.

Paying Goff early was a mistake, yes.

Which is a microcosm of their overall approach and why we're completed depleted of first round picks and cap-strapped. Next year, that may not be the issue but this year our roster is looking thin.

Do you suggest they continue trading and spending like they have?

moklerman wrote:Paying Goff early was a mistake, yes.

Which is a microcosm of their overall approach and why we're completed depleted of first round picks and cap-strapped. Next year, that may not be the issue but this year our roster is looking thin.

Do you suggest they continue trading and spending like they have?

I suggest they continue with their plan. For the next 5 years they will be paying their QB affordable prices. You suggest they should have waited until after their SB appearance and Goff's almost 4700 yards passing and his nearing the end of his contract to negotiate a new one? With his leverage and the value of a good QB even greater?

What gets me is when we have a very good player who comes to the end of his contract, the overwhelming opinion is "they should have extended him before this" but when they do that, "it's too early".

The cap goes up every year. The value of players goes up every year, as long as they maintain their level of performance. Their leverage goes up every year the closer they get to their contract ending. So the SMART thing is to get them early. Otherwise you're paying more than you would have in previous years. Everybody on this board (and others) has said that. Yet when they do sign them early, they fooked up? That's kinda wanting it both ways, isn't it?

PARAM wrote:It looks to have backfired on 2...Cooks and Gurley....
Come on, we can nitpik the mistakes but let's not ignore the credit that should be given in other areas. They will have close to $50 mil in cap space next year. Will we all be whining and crying about bad cap management then? Oh I suppose if we go 8-8 or 6-10 this year. I'm betting we won't.

I hope they don't change anything. Did some bad contracts happen? Yes. Were they foreseeable, probably not.

Gurley's knee, Cooks concussions/injuries, Talib's injuries (age might have been forseeable), etc, etc.

We definitely improved in '17. We got to the SB in '18 and looked great getting there throughout that season. We looked competitive in '19, in spite of 'issues.' I suspect we'll compete in '20. AND, we've cleared our boards and 'reset' our mistakes.

I hope the front office continues its aggressive (and maybe overly aggressive and generous) management of its players. It seems to work. It creates an environment where our players feel compensated.

I think we've made tons of smart moves, honestly. And, yes, it means the press will continue to write up stories about how the Rams are always in cap hell. But, that wasn't really hellish, was it. Worst case, it cost us this upcoming '20 season (all the recent cuts)... but it didn't even seem to really effect that.

moklerman wrote:Paying Goff early was a mistake, yes.

Which is a microcosm of their overall approach and why we're completed depleted of first round picks and cap-strapped. Next year, that may not be the issue but this year our roster is looking thin.

Do you suggest they continue trading and spending like they have?

I dont see how paying Goff early was a mistake, the price gets incrementally higher as each year passes. Lets see how the Cowboys situation plays out with Dak. The only way the Goff contract becomes a mistake is if Goff falls apart.