[Elvis]

yeah, have pretty much always been in that boat, show me something that translates into wins... not too long ago many claimed we mortgaged the future moving up for goff, but a few years later we were playing for the lombardi, from 2007-2016 the rams often ranked high in available cap space, a lot of good that did.

So much of this has to do with whether your QB is on his rookie contract or not. And that's misleading too.

Do you have your QB and HC?

If you do the results are gonna be good more often than not.

If not, they won't...

[aeneas1]

yep, kc should be sitting pretty in cap space once they ink mahomes to his next contract, eh? in fact guess who currently ranks right after the rams in least available cap space? yep, the chiefs, and that's with mahomes accounting for just 5.3m (2.4%) of their cap.

So much of this has to do with whether your QB is on his rookie contract or not. And that's misleading too.

Do you have your QB and HC?

If you do the results are gonna be good more often than not.

If not, they won't...

[CanuckRightWinger]

I'm not writing the 2020 season off.....not at all.....but when we're 32nd out of 32 teams in an area (MONEY) that kind of dictates what various-valued players you are able to sign....

is it a sin to point that out?

But yeah, we DO have our QB, we DO have our HC.....and the rookies and low-priced guys will play lights out.....take it to the bank...like last year....

….when our low-priced yutes were not what we predicted, and we missed the playoffs.

I guess it boils down to this.....
do you consider a 9-7 non-playoff season "a success"?

Do you guys think McVay considered 2019 "a success"?
Did Kroenke?
Did Demoff?
Did Snead?
I doubt it, otherwise they wouldn't have given McVay the green light to cashier all those 2019 Ram Coaches!

See, going back to the George Allen years....in 1968 we were 10-3-1, missed the Playoffs and I ended up in a High School Monday morning fist-fight with a Dallas fan who mocked Roman Gabriel being knocked cold in our back-breaker Bears loss the day before. Ever since back then, I just don't consider non-playoff Rams seasons as "successful."

BTW, the milltown I grew up in was very blue-collar, so HS fist-fights were not so uncommon. Think Clairton, PA....the mythical town Michael Cimino concocted for this 1979 movie, The Deerhunter.
The best restaurant in town was Dominic's Black&Blue Room. It was a tough place....even the Hatcheck Girl's name was Nunzio! The House Special was BrokenLegOfLamb!! I ordered Ribs there once, and it came with a finger-bowl....there were 3 fingers in it!!

Go Rams in 2020!!!

[BobCarl]

I ordered Ribs there once, and it came with a finger-bowl....there were 3 fingers in it!!

1st time I cracked a smile all day in regards to sports.

[BobCarl]

I think some pain to trade Gurley's and Cook's salary for Ramsey's and Kupp's may prove to be a prudent near-term and long-term decision.

I will feel a LOT better about this when the ink on Kupp's next contract has dried.

[BobCarl]

Grown-ups (and economists) call it "kicking the can down the road."

... it does NOT mean that the Rams will be shit next year.

Go Rams in 2020!!!

Are your critics saying that the the concept of Salary Cap is "code" for: you can pay Paul, without having to rob Peter?

[PARAM]

I'm not writing the 2020 season off.....not at all.....but when we're 32nd out of 32 teams in an area (MONEY) that kind of dictates what various-valued players you are able to sign....

is it a sin to point that out?

But yeah, we DO have our QB, we DO have our HC.....and the rookies and low-priced guys will play lights out.....take it to the bank...like last year....

….when our low-priced yutes were not what we predicted, and we missed the playoffs.

I guess it boils down to this.....
do you consider a 9-7 non-playoff season "a success"?

Do you guys think McVay considered 2019 "a success"?
Did Kroenke?
Did Demoff?
Did Snead?
I doubt it, otherwise they wouldn't have given McVay the green light to cashier all those 2019 Ram Coaches!

Writing off the 2020 season? You seem to be saying there isn't a lot of hope we'll get any help for our roster due to our cap situation and that doesn't bode well for success of a team who went 9-7 and missed the playoffs.

Is it a sin to point that out? Absolutely not.
Is it inaccurate? No.
Is it something they can't overcome? No
Is it optimism for an enjoyable 2020 season? Not the way I read it.

On 2019, I consider 9-7 a winning season. Successful? In the moment no, as in no playoffs. For the future? We're gonna find out.

Were they successful in playing and evaluating and developing some young offensive lineman? Some think so. They opted to bring back Blythe on what might be a one and done deal and Whitworth on what might also be one and done with a little dead money next year. No Trent Williams. No big outside signing. Either they're content in their development of the young guys or they're taking a bullet this year. And drafting an OL this year doesn't mean they failed. It just means they're planning ahead.

Were they successful on O? With 3 guys on the OL going down for the season, 2 rookies and a 2nd year guy coming in, Gurley playing with stone hands and no burst, Cooks missing time, the offense was #7 in yards and #11 in scoring. I'd give that a big YEA considering all the issues!

Were they successful on D? Wade's boys, while totally dominant at times (against some shitty teams) looked like East Jabumfook St. at other times (against real contenders)? He's gone. And nobody was blowing up his phone to come work for them.

Were they successful on special teams? Bones is gone. Z is gone. Natson is gone. So I guess they believe they were a huge failure last year.

And despite all that, they went 9-7 finishing just out of a playoff spot. Certainly not success by current standards but something that's been mentioned a lot is, 'if 9-7 is our bad times .......' I'm looking forward with anticipation, despite the doom and gloom of some prognosticators.

As far as "rookies will play lights out, take it to the bank, like last year", overall, I thought Rapp played well save for a couple of rookie brain farts. Edwards and Evans got thrown into the fire earlier than anybody wanted and they came out okay. Hey, you were talking up Nsimba Webster in another thread when the idea of drafting a WR high this year was discussed. What did he do (I mean in the NFL) to garner such praise from you?

The thing is, they don't "need" any rookies to play lights out. They need to start developing a new rookie class and get a solid 2nd or 3rd year out of the 2nd and 3rd year guys. One thing I've heard many people say is a rookie RB or WR is easier to work into the plan. He doesn't play every down so you can pick and choose when you use him. Not so with an OL. He's in there every play.

But back to the cap and that 21 million Snead has to pull out of his ass. Anybody think we're not going to have that money? Anybody think we're going to cut somebody 'vital'? I mean somebody the masses on RFU (or elsewhere) haven't already trashed a bit or labeled JAG?

As far as where we stand, in relation to the rest of the league, in cap space, as of 3/20/20 there were 5 teams with less money and 3 of them were in the postseason last year. The 5 teams with the most cap space have a combined 3 postseason appearances (with 1 win; 1-3) the last 3 years, with Buffalo getting in twice.

Like you said, "we do have our QB and HC" and without that, you don't stand a chance.

[Elvis]

I'm not writing the 2020 season off.....not at all.....but when we're 32nd out of 32 teams in an area (MONEY) that kind of dictates what various-valued players you are able to sign....

is it a sin to point that out?

It might be worth pointing out who's 30th and 31st on that list: The Patriots and The Chiefs. The Saints are 28th.

The top 2 teams in cap space? Browns and Lions. Mokler's Redskins are 5th.

I'd rather be the Rams.

This is not an important metric when it comes to wins and losses...

[moklerman]

It might be worth pointing out who's 30th and 31st on that list: The Patriots and The Chiefs. The Saints are 28th.

The top 2 teams in cap space? Browns and Lions. Mokler's Redskins are 5th.

I'd rather be the Rams.

This is not an important metric when it comes to wins and losses...

Is ranking actually important in this case? All of those teams are $5M+ better than the Rams. The Rams still have to make some moves just to get under the cap, not to mention pay the draft class and FA signings.

[moklerman]

The *estimated* cap numbers at the various sites are just that.. estimates.
And, as many have mentioned... the Rams actually built the ability to restructure in to Goff's contract.
Also.. those websites factor in the "rookie pool" into their numbers.
They also have some easy fixes to open up money that would factor into their long-term plans. A new Ramsey deal could open up cash this year, for example.

It's just not that big of a deal. When you have good players and develop good players you're going to lose good players because you don't get to keep them all.

But that isn't what we're talking about. The Rams aren't just victims of the way free agency is set up and weren't able to match offers by other clubs. They mismanaged their cap and are cutting their losses.