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AlbaNY_Ram
Nice writeup - I think you covered all the bases. I have a few thoughts on your observations:
About signing Fowler over Saffold: You touched on the reason why the Rams did this in your post when you said that edge rusher was an area of need. It remains to be seen if the Rams are right but they apparently think they can replace Saffold in the starting lineup better than they could replace Fowler. It seems Noteboom is slated to play LG this year, a guy who has been in house and groomed for that role. But they had no one in house ready to do what Fowler can do. Plus the Rams get a 4th round comp pick for Saffold and that seems to be an important factor in the Rams decision making for the past few seasons.
About Joyner: Yes, he did drop off in 2018 but part of the reason was that the Rams asked him to play more of the free safety role last season (where he was more of a strong safety in 2017). As it turns out Joyner's skill set doesn't translate well to FS and his play in 2018 reflects that. Joyner will be back at SS with Oakland so he should have a rebound season. And the Rams get another 4th round comp pick out of the deal.
About Weddle: He signed a 2 year deal with the Rams. As long as he holds up physically he could be in the starting lineup in '19 and '20.
What I saw with Joyner is that Oakland will use him as a nickel corner. That's the role he excelled at with the Rams. I agree he wasn't suited for FS. Oakland paid a lot of money for him though which suggests that people around the league knew his value....just not at FS.
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