Five moves each NFC West team should make this offseason

Five moves each NFC West team should make this offseason

Bill Barnwell

Many NFL teams script their first 15 (or more) plays before a game starts to focus on getting a few fundamental concepts right. Whether they want to attack a particular defensive player or scheme, exploit a perceived weakness or simply drill down on the offensive elements they think are most critical to winning, they pay particularly close attention to the plays they'll start with on Sunday as they wrap up the week.

Likewise, organizations need to pay attention to the first few critical things they do during the 2017 offseason, as those might end up defining the year to come. Some teams have a lot to do before the new league year begins March 9, while others won't have to make critical calls until the first day of the NFL draft on April 27.

In this two-week series for ESPN, I'll be running through the first five things that should be running through each team's mind as it prepares for the 2017 offseason.

Let's get to the NFC West, where we have a near-dynasty, a team that unexpectedly fell apart last season and two teams that overhauled their coaching staffs in a hope to return to relevance ...


Los Angeles Rams

1. Pick up Aaron Donald's fifth-year option. Send the paperwork in twice, just in case.

2. Re-sign Trumaine Johnson. Los Angeles probably regrets letting go of Janoris Jenkins, who had an excellent season with the Giants. The Rams can't afford to lose both Jenkins and Johnson, their other starting cornerback -- but keeping him won't be cheap. The Rams already franchised Johnson a year ago, so a second consecutive franchise tag would take Johnson to $16.5 million, which would make him the second-most expensive cornerback in the league behind Josh Norman.

The Rams won't want to do that, and Johnson's representation will know as much. Jenkins received $39.7 million over the first three seasons of his new deal from the Giants, and Johnson's going to top that mark. New defensive coordinator Wade Phillips made his hay in Denver with a trio of great cornerbacks -- Aqib Talib, Chris Harris Jr. and Bradley Roby -- and while the Rams will try to develop Lamarcus Joyner and E.J. Gaines, neither has looked to be on Johnson's level. Even if it means letting free-agent safety T.J. McDonald leave town, the Rams probably need to commit to Johnson.

3. Try to gather compensatory picks. Rams general manager Les Snead doesn't have a lot of flexibility, given that his first- and third-round picks are on their way to Tennessee as part of the Jared Goff trade. The Rams weren't contenders last year, but they need to resist the urge to go after veteran free agents in the hope of a quick fix. They're going to need to rebuild around Goff with young talent.

To that end, the Rams probably need to avoid signing players who will infringe upon the formula for compensatory selections. They'll also want to let a few of their veterans leave, which means McDonald and Kenny Britt could hit the market. Johnson would recoup the highest pick, likely a third-rounder, but McDonald and Britt should get the Rams started with extra selections in 2018.


4. Build an offensive line around Goff. Snead and his predecessors have spent more than a decade trying to construct some sort of protective bubble for their quarterbacks, but it hasn't worked. Some of the problems were Goff's fault, given how the first overall pick looked lost for most of his abbreviated rookie campaign. The Cal product poasted a staggering 11.3 percent sack rate in 2016; that's the seventh-worst era-adjusted sack rate since 2000 for guys with 200 attempts or more. Case Keenum posted a far more plausible 6.3 percent sack rate.

The most notable failure on the line is 2014 second overall pick Greg Robinson, who has committed a league-high 35 penalties over the past three seasons and became a healthy scratch at points in 2016. New coach Sean McVay might move Robinson off Goff's blindside, but that just leaves a crater at the line's most important position with no obvious replacement or path to one.

Realistically, the Rams are going to have to use their second-round pick on a lineman or shop in the bargain bin for offensive linemen who were cut by other teams. They should seriously consider Branden Albert if the Dolphins part ways with their starting left tackle. Signing Albert, 32, doesn't exactly fit with Los Angeles' long-term timeline, but the Rams desperately need to create an infrastructure within which Goff can develop. They otherwise run the risk of turning Goff into the next Tim Couch or David Carr, quarterbacks who developed bad habits and lengthy injury histories while under fire at the beginning of their careers.

5. Be patient. Los Angeles is in a tough spot. It surely wants to develop a competitive team to attract fans in its new home, but the moves it has made haven't panned out. Goff was a mess as a rookie. Todd Gurley was wildly disappointing during his second season. Tavon Austin's contract is horrific, one of the worst in football given his production. The Rams are stuck in a division with a dominant Seahawks team and a Cardinals squad which should be better in 2017. They feel years away from the playoffs.

Whatever the Rams do this offseason probably isn't going to make a huge difference, and that should be OK. Goff will be better as a sophomore. Gurley will break off more big runs in 2017. Austin might thrive in the Jamison Crowder role under McVay. They still have a great defensive line, and in Phillips, they have arguably the best defensive coordinator in the league. Los Angeles will probably be better in 2017. That should be enough for now.

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