Last year the intent was to fix the offense.
This year the intent is not just to fix the defense, but to make it elite.
Yes, the Rams tried to retain Watkins.....but not TOO hard. They had a number in mind and it was way below what the FA market finally paid him.
And other than keeping Sullivan around for well more than I thought they'd have to pay him, the Rams have done pretty much nothing for the O except to create a hole at WR.
IF the Rams sign Suh, their precious FA dollars will drop significantly. This tells me they are pretty much done with adding O players and will go with what they have. Of course, what FA WR is out there that the Rams would want, anyway?
Oh sure, if they could pick up a bargain basement guy like Mike Wallace who runs the same routes as Watkins did, they might free up a mil or 2. Might even splurge up to $3mil if they thought Pryor was a good get. But clearly they're in no hurry to do much.
I get the sense that the Rams feel that they have what they need on O because last year was the first year in a new system and they can only improve in the 2nd year; it involved several rookie skill players (Kupp, Reynolds, Everett) who you'd expect to be better this coming season. And, although I was not happy with our TE play, McVay clearly isn't ready to revamp it.
Last year he was playing up Hemmingway until he tore up his knee. I wasn't sure what to make of it. I couldn't figure out if he was just trying to encourage Hemmingway or what. But, he also played up Gurley and we see how things turned out. So Hemmingway could be a piece that means the Rams play a lot more 12 than 11 packages, and so a 3rd WR becomes superfluous......or at least it's not the place where you spend a zillion dollars.
McVay has repeatedly said how much he likes Reynolds' and Thomas' potential. And so far, the lack of moves on O tells me that McVay is sincere about it.
