Keep in mind the Tavon Austin scenario. The issue is not that TA is a bad guy or bad player. And he is certainly a player the defense has to account for (as validated by numerous pre-game comments by DCs). The issue is that he got WAY overpaid for his value and production and so posters are very unhappy with him NOT for taking up a roster space, but for taking up too much Salary Cap space. If he was earning $3 or $4 mil instead of 3 times that, posters wouldn't be so unhappy with him.
Don't think for a second that the same thing can't happen with Watkins. It's one thing to pay the man $8-9 Mill per year (like Woods); it's another to pay him $14 - 16 Mill like Julio Jones, DeAndre Hopkins or Antonio Brown. That extra $6 or $7 mil would go a long way towards signing an additional very good player or in keeping another player we might otherwise lose.
The same fans who insist that the Rams do what it takes to keep him and just "pay the man", will be the same ones who get cranky when he has low production relative to the superstars he might get paid like.
Now the Rams FO isn't going to keep or pay him according to fan reaction on chat boards. Rather, they will (at least they should) pay him based upon their perception of his value and projected production according to McVay.
So when I express real doubt about keeping Watkins, I'm not bashing him. The doubts are about how much the Rams ought to spend to do it. If it is a Robert Woods sized contract, then please keep him. If it's a DeAndre Hopkins sized contract, then please don't. Not good value and they'll never get that kind of production out of him.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2018 02:22AM by RockRam.
